


Dead Man's Hand

by butcherbaker17maker



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: High School AU, JiHan, M/M, Soulmate AU, Supernatural AU - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-07 19:10:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 73,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7726378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butcherbaker17maker/pseuds/butcherbaker17maker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where a coming-of-age is supposed to reveal a soulmate, Joshua doesn't get what he bargained for. Four men compete to win his favor and there's a lot hanging in the balance: but who will Joshua choose to love?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Ovo

A man’s seventeenth birthday is a coming-of-age ceremony. Well, it’s a woman’s, too. Regardless. Seventeen. Coming of age. Remember that.

In general, on the seventeenth birthday _itself_ , not much happens. It’s socially acceptable to have a large party – girls in new dresses, boys in whatever is the fashion, lots of booze. It depends on what kind of person you are, you know? What kind of celebration you have. I knew a guy called Key once who invited over three-hundred people to his _sollemne_. He rented out the entire local hotel and made his entrance at eight in the evening at the top of the stairs, wearing gold all-over with a huge boa constrictor around his shoulders.

My big sister held her _sollemne_ in the back garden. She invited five people. They spent the day doing stuff together – I don’t know, girl stuff – and after pizza for dinner they all went home again.

But the entire point of a _sollemne_ – the surrounding motivation – is the Ovo.

My sister’s Ovo is beautiful. It’s a six of diamonds, and it’s a beautiful dark green color. The tattoo is in a kind of sketch expression, like it was created with thousands of tiny flicks of a very sharp pencil. Under it is the name _Eric Nam_. She hasn’t met him yet, but when she does, I’m sure they’ll be very happy together. _Lizzy and Eric_. It’s almost poetic.

On the night of your seventeenth’s birthday, you are gifted with the name of your soulmate, and the playing card that represents them. Each suit has its own feeling to it; every number or face card has a sentimental, emotional value to it.

Sometimes, if the tie to your soulmate is _very_ strong, you’ll be gifted an Ovo twice: one on either wrist. People like that are absolutely blessed, because they know when they meet their soulmate, it will be the most intense tie they have to a person. Their happiness is doubly sure.

It is on this fundamental part of our lives, the Ovo, upon which Deck High is based on. Deck High is the first of its kind: the first high school in Korea to be based upon the Ovo.

As the playing cards represent a human’s deepest soul, it divides the students of Deck High into four individual groups: the House of Spades, of Hearts, of Clubs and of Diamonds. Students choose which house they most represent, and each house is led by a Prefect: a valedictorian, of sorts.

The Prefect over the house of Spades is Wonwoo, Ace of Spades. Wonwoo is a perfect example of a Spade: he’s calm, neat, a little fussy, and painfully punctual. If he promised to show up at 2PM, he will arrive at that exact time. It’s almost freaky. He’s also the dark, strong, silent type. More often than not, students are intimidated by his cold look.

The Prefect over the house of Hearts is the King of Hearts, Seungcheol. He’s the school’s taekwondo champion, and the muscle behind the Prefect Five. If there is any funny business around, Seungcheol doesn’t just know about it, he’s already kicked the perpetrators into purgatory and back again. He’s bright and very masculine, except where his boyfriend is concerned.

The Prefect over the house of Clubs is the Queen of Clubs, DK. And there is _nothing_ he hates more than being called the Queen, so of course as his best friends, we bring it up as much as possible. Like most clubs he’s emotional and sensitive: but most of all, he’s got the sun shining out of his ass 24/7. He’s the Prefect you go to if you need cheering up. Or candy. Or a tissue. Or some of the girls even go to him if they’re out of _feminine products_. Most of us wouldn’t be seen dead with a pad in our bag, but DK has five sisters. Suppose he’s used to it.

Lee Jihoon is the Jack of Diamonds, the Prefect that strikes blind terror and panic into the hearts of the students. He’s also the aforementioned boyfriend of the great Choi Seungcheol, and the connection is utterly bizarre. Jihoon is stunningly smart, and painstakingly creative, so it was a toss-up on whether he would go to diamonds or clubs, but then Seungcheol got his Ovo and it was decided. Jihoon is cold, cunning, strategic, _amazing_ with numbers and a sarcastic piece of shit. But I’ve seen him when he thought he was alone with Seungcheol. He’s just a little duckling that wants to be _cuddled_. And his boyfriend goes from a burly athlete to a cuddle machine.

It’s real weird.

There’s five Prefects, not four, even though there’s only four houses. The Joker Prefect is in charge of the other four Prefects: not only that, but the Joker is the number one connection between the students, Prefects, and the principal. The Joker keeps the school running smoothly most days, and is considered not so much without a house as belonging to them all.

And currently it’s 23:56 on his seventeenth birthday and he’s sweating bullets.

Hong Joshua. Seventeen years old. Just a few sweet moments away from getting my Ovo. It’s a sleepless night for most people, but I never really realized just _how_ sleepless. How the anxiety and excitement eats away at your chest. How you can’t keep still. I keep staring at my wrists, waiting for the pattern to show up. What kind of person will my soulmate be? I always imagine them to be a Queen of Spades – somebody sober and responsible like myself – but they might end up a Deuce of Hearts or even a Seven of Clubs. Imagine that! A Seven of Clubs!

I turn over and grip my sheets. _Go to sleep, Joshua,_ I think to myself. _First day of school tomorrow. Don’t go in with bags under your eyes._

 _Shut up_ , the excited part of my brain mutters back. _Everybody knows you’re getting your Ovo today. Just stay awake, damn it._

I’m wrestling with the idea when there’s a soft _thump_ in the middle of my room. At first I think that the shoebox I stacked precariously on top of my school uniform has fallen over in the breeze that’s coming from the open balcony door. Then the soft thump makes a disgusting _grunt_ sound and I sit up, hitting the button on my lamp, giving myself a lovely papercut on my roster sheet in the process. I hiss in shock, whipping my hand limply at the sharp cut, and simply glare at my floor.

Right there lies the dark shape of a human body.

Then I _smell_ it and I gag a little. I never really thought that blood had a smell – I never bled much in my life anyway – but this _has_ to be the smell of blood. It’s sour, like bad cabbage, salty, and a bit metallic. It is absolutely _revolting_ , and the pool of it on my beautiful hardwood floor is slowly expanding.

Somebody had swung into my bedroom, on the _third_ _floor_ , walked through my balcony door, and begun to bleed out on my bedroom floor. Which tends to be something I take offense at.

The body slumps, making a squelching sound as it loses the will to fight, and for some reason, I _don’t_ start screaming like any sane person would. I just slowly lean over the side of my bed to touch it – to see if the blood is real.

The moment my finger touches the hot, sticky liquid, everything seems to go dark again.

To explain what it feels like, you have to imagine wearing -8 diopter glasses your entire life, and then casually taking them off for a night. The headache in the middle of my frontal lobe is throbbing like somebody just hit me with a mill hammer, my limbs are cold and my breath is shaky.

Breathing is kinda difficult for a moment, as if I’ve forgotten how to breathe, but then my lungs finally kick in and now I’m breathing too hard, like I just ran a marathon.

“Shh,” a voice says. I don’t recognize it. “Just relax.”

I can’t find my eyes, and then suddenly they’re opening, blinking against the light. My bedside light is still on. There’s somebody beside me. Somebody I don’t know.

I pull up against the wall, curling up under my bedsheets in both shock and fear. For a moment, I can’t get my mouth to move just right – and when I find my tongue again, I don’t even know what to say.

“Please don’t scream,” he whispers.

I just stare. I hadn’t realized earlier, but I’m shaking from head to toe.

“Shh. I mean you no harm.” The man holds up both palms. “I’m Jeonghan. You just saved me.”

“Saved you?!”

“Shhhhh!” he hisses, looking towards the door instantly. “Please keep your voice down!”

“What do you mean, saved you?” I work to get my voice down, but whispering burns against my raw throat, as if I’ve been working choir for seven hours straight. “Who the fuck are you?! What are you doing in my room?!”

“Like I said, I’m Jeonghan,” he whispers. He’s still got his palms up, in a very obvious I-come-in-peace stance, but a few seconds ago he was lying on my bedroom floor dying uninvited, so I feel like I have the right to be a bit upset. “Sorry about bursting in like this. I really thought my balls were fried there. You saved my life.”

I want to believe this is a dream. Strange men don’t swing into your bedroom in the middle of the night and claim you saved their lives. It’s just _too_ weird, you know? But the splitting pain in my head is so distinct, it’s so _sharp_ that I can’t imagine this not being reality. Which sucks dick on all sides.

The man takes an audibly deep breath. “I’m a demon.”

…well, what do you even say to that?

“When the blood of a demon comes in contact with the blood of a pure soul…” He reaches out to hold up my hand, pointing out the papercut. It’s got a tiny crust of blood forming. “…then a bloodbond is formed.”

I stare a little, because when self-proclaimed demons walk up to you like you’re a saviour, it puts a guy on edge.

“It’s called a Concordat, and it means that because you saved my life by touching my blood, I’m now your servant and bodyguard for all intents and purposes.”

I think my brain has stopped working, ‘cause my mind is drawing a blank. Like, total blank. As in, I’m not even sure I understand the meaning of the individual words this guy is spouting.

“God, look at you. You’re exhausted. Your eyes are all bloodshot. Go to sleep.”

I blink slowly, and just say the first thing that comes to mind. “What the fuck?”

“…do you want me to leave so you can sleep?”

I’m not entirely sure what that sentence means – my brain is down for repairs right now, ‘cause I’m seeing some next-level delusions – but I _think_ it means he’s going to go away, so I nod slowly.

He laughs, and then he’s gone.

It takes me a few moments of solitude to realize I’m still shaking, and part of it is ‘cause my room is fucking _freezing_. I bounce up to close my balcony door against the cold, and then settle down between the warm sheets. I close my eyes, and let peace take me.

I entirely forget the tattoo being magically drawn across my wrist at midnight.

 

The first thing I do when waking up is that I stretch, think _what a weird dream_ and take a good look at my wrists with genuine excitement.

Where my Ovo should have been drawn as a beautiful, intricate tattoo on the inside of my right wrist, there was a huge, daunting black **X**.

The mark of man who has no soulmate.


	2. Twinkie

The Deck High uniform is plain navy pants, white dress shirt, navy tie with golden pinstripes on it, and the navy blazer with the golden school emblem on the breast pocket. As the Joker prefect, I’ve got golden stars on my shirt collar and a cuff around my upper arm with a joker card on it.

It’s the first time I’ve _ever_ been happy our school uniform has long sleeves.

I don’t like lying to my mom, but right now it’s dealer’s choice and I choose not to tell anybody that I’ve got the Black Mark.

The black **X** signifies that one either does not have a soulmate, or that that soulmate has already died.

It’s funny, you know? As a guy, you try to be nonchalant about those things, but I was really excited. Everybody I know has a soulmate. The ones that have already found each other are very happy. I guess I was looking forward to that kind of feeling too. I’ve never been a very emotional person – not really – and the idea that I could fall in love with the perfect person for me always represented an interesting idea. The idea that I would be extremely emotional over that person.

One time Jihoon broke his arm falling out of the ropes in phys ed. Seungcheol cried for almost an hour.

I guess I would have liked that opportunity, too.

But if it’s not meant to be, then it’s not meant to be, and I suppose I have to take life as it comes. I’m not really used to the idea yet.

My walk to school is mercifully short: down to the end of the street, five minutes down alongside the main road, and then up the street to the front door. Inside, I’m kind of wondering how I’m supposed to get through today with the emotional onslaught of knowing I’m going to be alone for the rest of my entire life.

“Hey, asshole!” A heavy weight suddenly bears down on my back, pulling me out of the silent reverie: I scream at him, but he just clambers on like a fucking koala bear. “Good morning!”

I sigh, give up, and hold onto his knees as I piggy-back the huge idiot to school. “Morning, Seungcheol.”

“Sorry.” Jihoon’s voice is soft but clear-cut as he comes up beside me. “My boyfriend is a loser.”

“That’s alright. I already knew he was a loser.”

“Hey! Ponies don’t talk!”

“Shut up, Seungcheol,” we chorus.

I carry the King of Hearts all the way to school before dropping him on his ass. “And watch the glasses next time,” I remind him, adjusting the round golden frames on my nose. “They’re not under guarantee anymore, you know.”

“So?” Seungcheol gets up like I didn’t just toss him to the curb and leans in. “So, so so so?”

“So, yo-ho, me maties yo-ho?” I try.

“Nice attempt. Let’s see it?”

“See what?”

“The Ovo!”

“What Ovo?”

“Yours!”

“My what?”

“Your Ovo!”

“My what now?”

“Stop teasing, both of you.” Jihoon shakes his head at both of us like we’re little children. “You, stop annoying the only person who can kick you out of the Prefect Five, I don’t want to marry a high-school flunkie. And you, stop avoiding the question and show us your damn Ovo before we jump you.”

I take a deep breath, pull myself up straight and put on my Prefect voice. “I would _prefer_ it all much more if we could focus on the subject at hand. It’s the first day of school and I will not be accepting any teachers’ complains on the behaviour of _my_ prefects like I did last year. Do I make myself understood, _Mister_ Choi Seungcheol?”

Seungcheol’s excited puppy-dog face quickly sours. “I was only having a little fun.”

“Have a little fun _outside_ of my school.”

“Your school?” Jihoon repeats. “Well isn’t that nice. Joshua has a _school_ now Cheol, did you hear?”

“I heard!” The athlete dances around to leer with his diminutive boyfriend. “Amazing, isn’t it? Hasn’t even finished himself yet, and-”

A cold breeze rushes by, making both of them shut up, thank God. It makes my hair stand on edge but thankfully I’m no stranger to the feeling. I simply keep walking until I’m within a reasonable speaking distance. “Wonwoo, why are you not in uniform?”

The young man stands in full black with a black fur cape around his shoulders that reaches all the way to the ground. He wears his hair typically in a dark fridge over his forehead, and holds a piece of bread crust up for the raven on his shoulder. “I got here early,” he says slowly, the tone emphasizing how low his voice has gotten over the summer. “I guessed there was no point in changing, ‘cause my first period is gym.”

“You can’t come into the building with that animal,” I tell him, fishing out the key to the front gate from my bundle of keys. “You know that, right?”

“I’m not _in_ the building,” he smiles serenely. He greets the other two prefects with that same calm smile.

Sometimes, Wonwoo makes me feel like I’m one of the suckers in Fruits Basket. You know, that crazy lady who supposedly channels electricity? Or water? Or something? Wonwoo has that effect on people. The slow, crazy, almost vaguely Frankenstein-esque behaviour are what keeps him in ultimate power. He doesn’t even have to threaten anybody. One look from him and even teachers put out their cigarettes.

Jihoon waits impatiently for me to open the gate, and when it swings open he lets out a sigh of relief. “I wonder where our-”

“Sh.” Wonwoo blinks twice and slowly cocks his head, ear up. “Listen.”

For a few seconds there’s silence, and then we start to hear it.

“ _Don’t_ tell me not fly, I’ve simply got to. If someone takes a spill it’s me and not you! Who told you you’re allowed to rain on myyyyy paraaaade!”

We all look at each other. “DK,” we chorus.

It’s only a few more lines before he rolls up to the front gate, skipping along like the happy asshole he is inside. Jihoon, forever the early-morning grump, always swore that the sun rose from DK’s ass, and to be honest, I usually agree with him. I love DK – I do, he’s lovely – but sometimes his inexorable happiness is just out of place.

His eyes crinkle up into nothing as he runs up to the front door I’m still trying to find the key for. The corners of his mouth don’t turn up in a U shape – they turn in a V shape. Extreme happiness at all times.

“Morning, DK,” I tell him, sifting through my keys.

“So, what’s the big news? Who is your beloved to-be?”

“He won’t tell us.”

“Aw, come on Josh!”

“Hush. I can’t find the key with you guys blabbering. Go feed the damn bird.”

“The damn bird has a _name_ ,” Wonwoo answers, offended.

It can be really tedious, being the Joker Prefect. I open up the entire building as I go, making sure the Principal’s office and staff room are both opened before I open the Prefect’s quarters.

Seungcheol makes a loud show of groaning as he takes off his blazer jacket, swinging it over the back of a chair he’s about to sit on. I make my way over to the computer to sit at it, but it’s not like I’m an idiot. I still know what he's doing when my back is turned. “Choi Seungcheol so help me, take your feet _off_ the table. Wonwoo, would you start opening some windows please?”

Jihoon starts the computer next to mine. “What’s on the plans for today, general?”

I chuckle lightly. “If you start printing out teacher’s schedules and class schedules, I’ll get the attendance lists and new pupil files?”

“ _Deal_.”

“Wonwoo.” I throw him my keys without looking: we have the action entirely synchronized. “You’re in charge of opening all the doors and windows.”

DK looms over my shoulder. “What about me, General Joshua sir?” He makes a happy salute, and if he’d had a tail, it would have been wagging. “I can do anything! I can-”

“Toilet duty?” I try.

“Be nice,” Jihoon mutters.

“Alright, alright. How about you sit tight and when Jihoon and I are done you can start running papers through the classrooms, that work for you?”

“Sure.” He hops impatiently from foot to foot. “Can I sing until then?”

“If you want your ass kicked,” Jihoon mutters.

“Cheol, do your boyfriend a favor and boost him another espresso, would ya? DK, there’s welcome back to school bunting in the third drawer. Hang that up outside, will you?”

DK dances out of the room happily and Seungcheol makes his way to the coffee machine. “No orders for me, oh captain my captain?”

“What’s the point in giving you orders?” I snort, gently taking my blazer off. “But if you desperately need to get busy you can go check the indoor sports hall and take inventory.”

Seungcheol gets busy, thankfully: once the enormous stack of papers have all been printed and signed off by yours truly, Jihoon hands half of them to DK, getting up to distribute the others himself.

“We’re working together?” DK grins excitedly, leaving first. “Hey, can I sing?”

“Only if you’re not emotionally attached to your balls,” Jihoon grins right back.

I sigh a moment, doing the digital administration. I’m a one-man force keeping this school together, sometimes. I take off my blazer and glance down at my left wrist. The dark **X** there is only a little visible through the white cloth of the shirt.

Alone. Forever.

I wonder what it will be like. Most soulmates marry in their early twenties; they stay together forever. I know there are people with an **x** on their wrist, but I never really heard more than plain rumor.

It’s upsetting, you know? Your entire life is based around this one fact. The fact that one day you’re going to meet everything you ever hoped for, everything you ever wanted. You’re going to be happy with them, have a life with them. Massages with your clothes on and rushed early-morning showers. It’s an entire future you build up for yourself. The idea that you’re a team. You’ll always be a team with the person who makes you the best version of yourself you can be.

So what if you’ve been banking on that your whole life? I’m nothing special, not really. Just very organized. I’ve always banked on my soulmate to bring out something special in me. Something I didn’t know was there – or that was the plan, at least. I’d dreamed up what our entire future would be together.

And now it’s all flushed down the toilet. Because I don’t have a soulmate. I’m not _getting_ a soulmate.  It’s all over.

“Hey.”

I scream before I even know it: jumping in my seat and swirling. “You scared me- who are you?!”

He stands there, and evaluates me. I sit, and evaluate him.

He’s tall. Good-looking. Long dark brown hair, pulled back in a sleek ponytail. He’s got a little strand of hair falling next to his face. Half of it is dyed red, and another string of hell-hot red runs down his ponytail. He’s not wearing a uniform, and he’s not old enough to be a teacher: he wears washed jeans, a white dress shirt and denim-blue suspenders. He’s got the sleeves of the shirt rolled up just past his elbows. He’s got a feminine face with big, doe-like eyes framed with long lashes.

He looks like he belongs in another century. Or like he comes out of one of the female students’ dramas. DK watches them a lot.

“You don’t remember me?”

“No! Who are you?”

“…I’m Jeonghan. Yoon Jeonghan. We met last night.”

It takes me a moment, but then that striking pain in the middle of my forehead starts acting up again. Then I bury my face in my hands and groan. “Oh my God, it wasn’t a dream.”

“Can’t say it was.” The stranger with long hair sits down in a spin chair nonchalantly, hands in his pockets. “I mean, unless you dreamt something about me afterwards. Wouldn’t take offence at that, you know.” He winks once.

I get a funny feeling in my stomach at the wink – a vague nausea brought on by faint distress – before waving my palms at him. “No, no no. Don’t be silly. That can’t be. I saw you bleeding to death on my floor.”

The guy nods as if this is the most normal thing he’s heard all morning. “Yeah, that sounds like me.”

I stare, frowning, full of blatant sarcasm. “And you’re a demon.”

He smirks at that, a sarcastic grin curling on his face. “Don’t believe that part, do you not, Twinkie?”

“Twinkie?”

“Cause you’re a twink. A very cute one, though, with the uniform and the glasses and the long toothpick legs. So don’t be offended.” He holds his palms up as if I misunderstood a compliment. “But if you want a demonstration…”

I cross my arms and let my tone go flat. “Surprise me.”

From the sleek, smooth dark hair, very slowly, two little bumps seem to appear, until they grow out like tall, curved horns. They remind me of an Egyptian idol I once saw – Horace, I think, but far closer together, and not attached at the bottom.

I snap my jaw back with an audible click. “Neat parlor trick.”

He knows I don’t believe my actual eyes. He can see it in my face. So he simply holds out his palm, and lights up a large, hot flame that floats in mid-air. “Believe me now, Twinkie?”


	3. Through the Window

He’s watching me, I know: waiting for me to freak out, or make some kind of notion that I care.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m sweating bullets, my palms are clammy, my heart is pounding, and I’m terrified. It’s not per se that I believe in demons, no matter how many floating flames he creates, but _something_ is up with him for sure and it puts me on edge. I just don’t want _him_ to know he has that effect on me.

He’s just standing there, leaning against the table, arms folded.

“Most people scream,” he observes slowly.

I don’t react. Not because I don’t want to fire back something snide and sarcastic, but more because I don’t know exactly what to say.

“…no questions?”

“A thousand,” I deadpan, clearing out last year’s files on the computer. “But to be honest, I’m kind of busy right now. Can’t you come back and annoy me some other time, _creep_?”

“Creep? Me, a creep! That’s nice.” He rolls his eyes a bit. “And no, I can’t come back later, not unless you make it a direct command. We’ve got a concordat, remember?”

I swing in my chair, working hard to keep my face as _bored with life_ as possible. “And what _exactly_ does concordat mean?”

“It’s a blood bond.” Jeonghan’s jaw locks, obviously unhappy with the situation. “You’re of pure blood, and you saved my life, which means my life belongs to you. It also means that if I let you die, _I_ die, and I’m not fond of the idea.”

“Well, I’m not going to die, so how about you skidaddle?” I make a _shoo_ motion with both hands.

“It also means that you’re responsible for me, so if _you_ let _me_ die, you’re in trouble too.”

“I didn’t sign up for that!”

He stares at me like I’m stupid. “ _You_ touched me with your own blood, you know.”

“I didn’t do that on purpose!”

“Well that’s not my fault!”

There’s a part of me – a very large part – that wants to take a swing at him. Damage those delicate cheekbones and make him a little less pretty. Then again, such behaviour is absolutely unbecoming of a Prefect, never mind the Joker Prefect, so I have to keep my fists to myself.

But I keep the thought in mind. I store it away in the back of my head. It’ll be a very happy fantasy for me to retreat to when I need it.

Jeonghan sits down, slouching in his chair. “Guess this means I’m gonna have to enrol in here.”

I turn. “ _What_?”

“You know. Bodyguard duties. I can’t let you be in here with me out there. If you get so much as a papercut, the same thing happens to me.” He drummed a fingertip on his own chest. “If you fall, I bruise, if you hit the bottom of the stairs with a _crash_ , then _I_ get a broken finger. Capiche?

I cock my head. “If I get hurt, you get hurt?”

“That’s right,” he mutters.

I figure there’s only one way to prove to myself that I’m not still cozy and cuddly in my bed. And this is probably a stupid idea, but I’ve got big black **x** ’s across both wrists, so I feel like I’m entitled to being a piece of shit today. I simply grab a letter opener, and slit the blade across my palm. It stings a little, but it’s not so bad.

“Ouch!” Jeonghan glares at his hand, then sets the terrific frown on me, holding up his palm. Across it, there’s a long line of black oozing from his skin. “Why’d you do that for?!”

I stare. “Your blood is black?”

“Demon!” he reminds me, pointing at himself, upset. “Why’d you cut yourself for?!”

“I wanted to see if you were telling the truth.” Now that I explain it, it sounds extra-stupid, which probably accounts for my voice becoming a little sheepish. “Uh… sorry. Do you need a bandage or…?”

Jeonghan sighs, and pushes his palm out to me. “Lick it,” he mutters.

“Excuse me?”

“Lick it. Or it won’t stop bleeding.”

I sit there in my swivel chair, frozen. “You’ve _got_ to be kidding.”

A couple of black drops hit the floor with thick splodgy sounds, and Jeonghan sighs again, more impatient this time. “The only way I can be healed from any wound is if my Concordat licks the blood. Your mouth has a healing power over me from now on.”

“Uh, can’t I just mesh blood with you like last time?”

“No, do it too many times and you’ll be poisoned, ‘cause I’ve got sulphur in my blood, but you don’t have to ingest my blood when you lick it. Why are you blushing?” There’s fury in his eyes as he presses his hand our further to me. “Stop being such an unbelievable _twink_ and lick my hand for fuck’s sake!”

I can’t help but scowl and make a bit of a face. “First of all, I am _not_ a twink. Second of all, is it going to taste gross?”

“I’m _dying_ of blood loss over here!”

“You’ve got one little cut. Won’t it close by itself?”

“No. For the one-hundredth time, _only_ your mouth will fix it. It’s a rule. Can you get on with it?”

Well, it’s not so bad. There’s nobody else in the room. “Just one lick?”

“Hurry up!”

I lean forward, making a worse and worse face every inch. It’s kind of gross, thick like half-baked brownies but five times as black and really sludgy. I hesitate, and then suddenly     he presses his palm out more and I get a mouthful of the stuff.

 _Ew_ , is the first thing I think. And then I think, _oh my God, his blood tastes like pizza. What the fuck are they doing down in hell? Having a 24/7 eternal pizza sleepover party combo?_

He pulls back the hand and holds it out; the black sludge is retreating into his hand. It’s fucking _creepy_ is what it is, like something from _Alien_. Then his skin casually seals itself back up until there’s nothing left but a pink scar.

“Wow.”

“Finally,” the ungrateful demon mutters. “Now you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Your hand is still bleeding, too.”

“ _My_ hand will stop very soon, thank you.”

“Be faster if I licked it,” he prompts.

“No way!”

“What’s the big deal, twinkie?” He leans in, bending a little since he’s still standing, until his face is really near mine. “Afraid you’ll like it a little too much?”

 _Is that… an attempt… at flirtation?_ “Dude, get off me.” I scowl at him once and return to my screen.

“I’m not on you, and you’re blushing again.”

I can feel it, a tingling in my cheeks. Not because he _affects_ me in any way, but because I’m getting second-hand embarrassment from his attempts at affecting me. “So, what now?” I turn back to him, crossing legs and arms. “If you’re supposed to be my bodyguard forever and ever amen? It’s not like you’re going to really fit in here, looking like that.”

He thinks about it and then shrugs, straightening out. “I guess I can pretend to be a high schooler for a while. Can’t hurt. Besides, teasing _you_ is more fun than I’ve had in a while. Way better than ferrying the souls of the damned to the Hot Guy for richest and girls and fame.”

“…what?”

He sighs. “Nothing. You have a spare uniform?”

“You can’t just snap your fingers and make it appear?” I ask snootily. I don’t really feel like dealing with this guy much longer than I have to.

Jeonghan smirks, and it makes him look _really_ annoying. “Well, I could, but I’d have to do it in stages. One snap to get these off, one snap to get a uniform on. I didn’t know you were so set on seeing me naked.” I’m getting up to walk away, but he pulls on my hand, tugging me close again. “You know, all you need to do is ask, twinkie…”

“Would you _kindly_ let go?” I growl, tugging back. “I’ve got a _few_ things I need to settle, and you just aren’t my type.”

“Oh, not your type, eh?”

A chill runs down my spine, and obviously his, too: he freezes, his eyes change, and then he slowly turns his head.

Wonwoo in standing in the doorway, still dressed in black. The look on his face could turn milk into ice-cream, with those deadly cold eyes. He simply stands there, letting in a draft that wafts through the ends of his black cape. “Joshua,” he says lowly, “would you like me to call the King?”

I glare at Jeonghan, but he ends up surprising me: his face is a little pale, expression tight. “I don’t know,” I say with obvious intent. “What do _you_ think Jeonghan, am I going to need to call in the King of Hearts, my resident muscle-man?”

“…No, probably not.” Jeonghan’s voice is all innocence and honey as he drops my arm. “I’m sorry, Joshua, I got a little overzealous.”

And then suddenly, he’s all different. The cold, annoying little smirk is just _gone_ , replaced by a happy, innocent expression and a pretty pink smile. Like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. It’s so convincing, I’m confused for a moment.

“I finished the bunting,” Wonwoo prompts.

“Right. Do me a favor? Set some coffee for Jihoon?” I clear my throat. “Wonwoo this is Jeonghan, he’s an exchange student from Green High. He’ll be taking my classes with me this year. Jeonghan, this is Wonwoo, Ace of Spades.”

Wonwoo walks up, and the two of them stand with no more than a hand’s breadth apart, staring at each other. Jeonghan is a little taller, but Wonwoo is a little broader in the shoulders. Either way, they just stand there in freezing silence, neither of them moving.

“…you’re not in uniform,” Wonwoo tells him at length.

“Neither are you.” Jeonghan’s voice is a little off. Not as confident as he had been.

“I was about to change.”

“So was I.”

“May I remind _both_ of you,” I interject loudly, “that this display of machoism will not be tolerated under my prefecture, and that I expect _both_ of you to be attired properly within the next ten minutes before the first staff members arrive. And that goes for your Prefecture armband too, Wonwoo. Don’t slack off on the first day.”

The man and demon just stand there, even though I know they both heard me.

“You’re in front of the coffee machine,” Wonwoo murmurs tersely. “You’re in my way.”

“So walk around me. You’ve got legs, don’t you?”

“Wonwoo.” I lower my voice, and it starts to grate a little. “Do _I_ have to call the King?”

“No sir,” Wonwoo growls, turning to look at me unhappily. “That will _not_ be necessary.”

“And Jeonghan, you get your _ass_ here on the double,” I demand, walking towards the door. I grab a large spare uniform out from one of the cupboards and wait out in the hallway until he legs it. When the door shuts behind him, I grip him by the collar and pull him down, furious. “What the _fuck_ was that you piece of shit?!”

“W-what?!”

“You’re a class A jerk, acting like that to Wonwoo!”

“Hey, _he_ -”

“I do NOT what to hear whatever SHIT excuse you have!” I yell, pulling him in even harder. My jaws are straining under the pressure of how hard I’m clenching them. “While you are situated under _my_ Prefecture you will conduct yourself to the _utmost_ high level of decency, class and politeness! I have _one_ year left at Deck High and I will _not_ allow you to sully the possibility of me making history and setting an all-time record! _DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!_ ”

He’s a bit surprised by my intensity. “Alright, alright. Good God, relax.”

I let him go and thrust the uniform in his hands. “Here. Put this on. Find me when you’re decent and ready to act like a normal person.”

I turn, but there’s three snaps of his fingers and he’s already jogging up beside me, wearing the school uniform with his own clothes sealed in the plastic bags the uniform was in. “Hey. Where are we going now?”

“We’re going to make sure everybody is doing their job properly and then I’m going to open the school gates to the… hey!” I stop, scowling. “How did you get into the Prefect’s room?!”

“What do you mean?”

“That room we were in. One moment you’re there, next moment you’re not. How did you get in? I locked the front gates when we got in. What did you do, hurdle the front gate? How did you get into the room?”

Jeonghan shrugs. “Through the window, of course.”

“… _what do you mean through the window?!”_ I hiss. “What, you just _casually_ jumped up four flights?”

“No.” He looks at me as if I’m a confused idiot. He leans in a little and speaks slowly. “I flew up, of course.” And with that he extends his arms and on his back, for just a _flash_ of a second, they’re there.

Two of the largest, blackest, most _beautiful_ wings.


	4. My School

“Hey, Josh!”

“Hey slugger.” I ruffle his hair as he runs by. “Be careful!”

“I will!”

“Hey Joshua!”

“Hi Josh!”

Jeonghan leans in, that lock of hair by his face tickling in my neck. “So, what are you? The Britney Spears of school or something?”

I smile as I greet everybody back to a first day of school on the grounds. “No, _sir_ , I am the Joker prefect. I am responsible for the well-being and genuine happiness of all the students here. I’m the top student, the head of the student council, I attend seven after-school activity clubs, and I am the principal’s personal assistant.”

Jeonghan stares at me a little.

“Hey, Dino!” I high-five the small freshman at the gates. He’s the number one pupil coming in this year, with the best grades from his previous school. He toured the school at the end of last year and I got to meet him. “How’s it going, kid?”

“Hey Joshua!” He’s all bright smiles and wide eyes, and kind of reminds me of me. “Uh, nervous!”

“Excited, you’ll mean.”

“That too.” He lets out a quick, nervous giggle. “Uh…”

“Oh, Dino, this is Jeonghan. He’s an exchange student, he’ll be with us this year. Jeonghan, this is Dino, one of our new freshman.”

“Hey kid.” The demon doesn’t poke out a hand to pump, and Dino doesn’t notice. “Sup.”

“Uh… okay?” Dino turns to me again. “When are the openings for school clubs?”

I laugh. I had a good feeling about this kid before summer started. He’s like me, ‘cept he’s smaller. “In about three weeks. Sports try-outs are in four, so pace yourself.”

“Yes sir!” Dino salutes, and we chuckle over it.

“Ten hut! Dismissed, soldier.” I pat him on the shoulder with a happy grin. “Go find your mates, alright?”

For the rest of the morning, Jeonghan is silent and reasonably complacent: he doesn’t speak when I make coffee for the staff, he doesn’t make a note when I introduce him to our class, and he doesn’t even seem to blink when he sits in the chair next to me.

I can’t help but notice that the chair and desk are just a _little_ too small for him.

It’s actually a little distracting to see him here. Just this morning I had no inkling he even existed, and here he is. A demon. With horns and wings. The whole enchilada. And he… belongs to _me_. His body and mine are connected.

A few times during math, the idea puts me into a sweat. It’s just so… intimidating. And kind of invasive, you know? Like, our bodies are _connected_. It’s weird.

A thousand thoughts are rushing through my mind. If he gets hurt, do I get hurt the same way? Is he going to stick around forever? I’m not sure I could deal with something like that. I can barely think about the end of the school year – thinking about the long-term isn’t something I’m very good at – never mind the rest of my _life_.

I’m so engrossed in the terrifying idea of _the rest of my life_ , I don’t hear it at first, and then I look up, wondering why everybody is looking at me funny.

“…I _repeat._ ” His voice comes on over the speakers. “Would the Joker Prefect please report to my office? Thank you.”

I can feel blood rushing to my face. _How embarrassing._ The first day of school, and I’m already slacking. I stand in a frenzy, blushing like a girl. “Mrs. Hunnicut? Permission to-”

“You think I want to be the one that kept the Principle’s secretary waiting? What do I have, a death wish? Get going!”

I grab my papers off my desk and sling my bag over my shoulder, and I’m half-way to the door when I realize.

“Mr. Hong, is there any particular reason Jeonghan is following you?”

“It’s part of the program,” I mutter. “Come on, Fido.”

 

“Wait here.”

“I’ve got to go with you.”

I turn with the flames of hell in my eyes. “I said, wait here. Are you stupid, or deaf?”

Jeonghan bridles, rocking from the balls of his feet to his heels, before staying stationary. “Fine. Don’t take too long.”

I knock twice and poke my head around the door. Principle Shin is sitting at his desk, glasses on the edge of it. Bad news. The Principle only takes his glasses off when he’s stressed. “Principle, sir? I’m very sorry I made you wait, sir.”

“Joshua!” He looks up, and a little of the stress seems to fall off his face for a moment. “No, no, come in. Come in. You’ve done a wonderful job again, Joshua. Never has the commencement of a school year gone so smoothly.”

“Keeping the other Prefects in check is a full-time obligation, sir,” I smile back timidly. “Was there something in particular you needed me for, sir?”

“Have a seat, Joshua.”

I sit in the right-hand seat in front of the principle’s desk while he moves and pulls a legitimate hipflask from his bottom drawer. I know the hipflask is there – I’m not an idiot – but I made a pact with the Principle that he wouldn’t drink before midday. He gives me a stressed look before taking a quick swig. “Joshua, I need your help.”

“Of course sir, anything.”

“…do you know of Jaehwang High?”

“Yes, sir. They’re situated on the other side of Seoul.”

“Their principle is an old friend of mine.” He starts twisting the cap back on the hip flask, re-thinks the idea and twists it off again. “We went to college together, the right bastard. He thinks he’s so cool, so _suave_ and sophisticated and better than me!”

“Perhaps you should get to the point sir,” I say carefully. Principle Shin has been like a father to me when my own walked out; he’s friends with my mother, and he’s always been good to me. I don’t like seeing him at whiskey this early.

“They’re coming _here_.”

A moment of silence passes. “Sorry, sir?”

“Minhyuk is bringing his entire scholastic team _here_ to compete with ours. I mean swimming team, basketball, volleyball, fencing, taekwondo, soccer, he’s bringing his spelling bee team and his mathematic triple-champions and top students in every subject, and he wants to have a _competition_ with _us_.”

A flash of exhaustion goes through me instantly, because I know what this means for _me_. It means more paperwork than I care for, to start off with.

“Joshua. I _need_ you to help me. I don’t even know where to _start_. See, he suggested it, and I just kind of challenged him back, and it’s all…”

I take a deep breath. “Well sir, let’s start with pinpointing a time. I suppose, since we’ll be competing in so many areas, they’ll be staying for a week or so?”

He looks at me for a moment and sighs, leaning back in his chair. “Kid, where would I be without you? I suppose so. He was thinking about October.”

I pull out my daily journals – I have three and yes, it’s necessary – and flip them all open. “…second week of October would be suitable, sir. It’s just before we have a week’s break. It’ll be a close call, but it’s possible.”

He’s opening his digital agenda on his computer, I can tell. He nods. “Suppose so.”

“Sir, with all due respect, you know the other Prefects and I head off many of our sports teams, and I coach our scholastic teams. I think we can give Jaehwang High a run for their money, sir. Why are you so upset?”

“Because I _bet_ on it,” he whispers.

I close my eyes and cover my face with one hand. Oh, God. Why this man thinks he’s able to lead a school, I’ll never know. “What did you bet?”

“If Jaehwang High wins in more areas than we do…  they get the school.”

“You _have got to be kidding_.”

He looks at me with terror in his eyes. “Help me Joshua, it’s my Goddamn hour of need here.”

“Don’t quote Broadway musicals at me,” I mutter sourly. “Don’t worry, we’ll save your precious school or my name isn’t Joshua.” I’m already taking notes. “I think, however, it’s best for student morale if we keep your gambling problem to ourselves for the time being.”

He nods.

“I also think, to keep student morale up, we should make it a week-long festival.”

“A festival?”

“Sure.” I shrug. “Food stands, a parade, talent shows. This is Deck High!” I pull myself up to sit as straight as is humanly possible. “We are about to show the world what extreme high standards we keep here, how privileged we are to be receiving such education, and what we can bring to the table when we’re challenged. This is Deck High! I’ll remind you, sir, that last year you said this was more _my_ school that it was yours. I intend to show my school off with intense pride.”

Principle Shin looks at me for a while and then all the stress melts off his face. “Joshua, what was I ever worried about, with you taking the wheel?”

“I have no idea sir,” I grin cheekily. “Anyway, I’ll need a budget and-”

“No budget.”

I pause, looking up. “Siiiiir?”

“Seriously. I’ll pay tens of millions if I have to, to stick it to that idiot.” Principle Shin folds his arms. “Just make sure we _win_.”

“Naturally.” I put my pen down. “I can assume we’ll be suspending all classes that week?”

“How else are we going to pull all this off?”

I make a face, but wipe it quickly. “Then sir, I’m sure you’ll excuse me from classes _now_ so that I can save your school?”

“Joshua, kid, where would I be without you?”

“Don’t ask me, I don’t know.” I smile and put my journals back in my bag.

“Hey. Tell your mom I’m coming by for dinner tonight.”

“It’s chicken pie.”

“Nice. Thank you, Joshua.”

“Yeah, yeah. You owe me. Big time.”

 

Jeonghan is more than happy to sit in the Prefect’s room and spin on a swivel chair while I try to map out details of what will happen when.

“Sooooo, explain to me again.”

“Do you ever shut up?”

“Who? Me? Never.” He wheels himself forward until he’s beside me, leaning over the back of the chair like a cowboy. “Seriously, explain.”

“We’re having a week-long party full or school-to-school battles.”

He’s not impressed.

I turn to him quickly. “Jaehwang’s teams will compete with ours in areas of sports and scholastic subject knowledge. I have to make sure we win.”

“…fine.”

By lunch-time I’m still in knots, and when the other Prefects come in, Jeonghan stands to attention unhappily.

The four Prefects stand in the doorway. Jihoon closes it. “Uh, Joshua…”

“Boys, this is Jeonghan, he’s a new exchange student who is here to observe the Prefect way with me for the year. Jeonghan, these are my Prefects; Wonwoo, Seungcheol, DK and Jihoon.”

There’s an awkward, silent tension in the room.

“If anybody wants to try starting beef, so help me God.”

“No worries.” Seungcheol is the first to come forward. “Hi, Jeonghan. What are you doing here, Joshua?”

“Principle Shin is asking me for a favor. I can’t refuse. You’ll find out later. I think I’m almost done, anyway.”

“We missed you in class,” he presses.

“I’ve got so much work on my plate, you have no idea.” I turn to him. “I put you in charge of the gymnastics grounds this year. The outdoor field. When is it due to be cut again?”

“In four weeks, why?”

“Move it forward by a week and then move the cutting after that back a week or so. We’ll need it freshly clipped.”

Seungcheol already knows my ways, and knows not to ask. “…okay, Josh. You’re the boss.”

It’s an hour after lunch – and I haven’t eaten since breakfast – when all seven printers in the building are whirring paper, that I am able to switch the speakers on.

“Good afternoon, students of Deck High! This is your Joker Prefect speaking. I hope you’re all having a good first day back! I have some exciting news for everybody. In October, we will be having a week-long school festival! During the festival we will be rivalling students of Jaehwang High in sports and scholastic competitions, but we will also have non-competitive activities like student-ruled food stalls and fireworks. As you will all be excused from classes for the week, attendance in at least two separate activities will be mandatory. Around three o’ clock this afternoon, and not a minute before, the Prefects will be waiting at the school entrance, lobby, cafeteria, gym hall and I will be at the Prefect’s room itself, in order to hand you all an information booklet, schedule and other papers you’ll need. Let’s make this an amazing week to show the pride of Deck High! Thank you all very much.” I let the button go, and then make another decision. I hit the button again. “Oh, right. PS. Could I have the Prefects in the Prefecture Room please? Thank you.”

The two printers in the administrator’s room are reeling out schedules: the printer in the Principle’s room is churning out forms to be filled out, and the remaining five printers in the Prefecture’s room are whirring with the information booklets.

I sigh.

“So, you do a lot around here, huh?”

I turn to Jeonghan, already exhausted. “You would not believe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, this is Arthur. Thank you all so much for the huge amount of interest this fic has already garnered! This is a reminder that you can always find me on TWITTER @17_maker for questions, extras, behind-the-scenes footage, spoilers, and other such nonsense. If you like this fic please don't forget to subscribe, give kudos, comment, and tell your friends!


	5. Work To Do

**STUDENT BOOKLET: THE DECK HIGH FESTIVAL**

Dear students of Deck High,

This year, Deck High will be engaging in a week-long school festival. The festival will be comprised of five days, each day with its own schedule of activities. As students you will be required to attend all activities marked X, as well as two other activities. In this year’s festival we will be taking up in competition against members of Jaehwang High School.

As for any extra information or unclear circumstances, you are always to directly address your house’s Prefect or the Joker Prefect. They will be fully equipped with all information to help you.

I hope you all will enjoy this shining example of Deck High, and show everybody that we really are the best school you could ever wish for!

 

Yours,

Principle S. Shin.

 

**STUDENT BOOKLET: THE SCHEDULE**

**Here follows an exact schedule for the Deck High School Festival.** It is mandatory for every student to be involved in every activity marked X, as well as two other activities of choice on different days. Go to your House Prefect for the activity sign-up form. Your Prefects advise you not to sign up for any activities that are scheduled back-to-back, as it may not leave you with enough time to rest and eat or drink.

Your presence is mandatory and will be taken at the beginning of every X activity. Of the activities you choose for yourself (a minimum of 2 activities), they MUST each begin with a different letter. If you wish to be part of activities AA and AB, that’s fine, but you must also choose an activity beginning with B, C, D or E.

Activities marked Z are mandatory for Prefects only.

If you wish to be part of the security program **instead** of any other activities, please note on your fill-in form that you wish to be a part of Activity W. You will be exempt from all other activities including X activities, but you may be required to be at school all day every day.

Extra activities are setting up food stalls (Activity F), clean-up duty (Activity G) and the design team responsible for decorations (Activity H). Being part of a food stall will replace one of your mandatory activities: clean-up and design teams’ activities will replace both activities.

Please note that food stalls will be expected to run at least 3/5 days.

 

 

** Monday: **

10:00 AM

| 

Parade

| 

Activity X  
  
---|---|---  
  
15:00 PM

| 

Commencement Speech

| 

Activity X  
  
20:00 PM

| 

Gala

| 

Activity AA  
  
23:40 AM

| 

Fireworks Display

| 

Activity AB  
  
 

 

** Tuesday: **

08:00 AM

| 

Volleyball Competition

| 

Activity BA  
  
---|---|---  
  
10:00 AM

| 

Swimming Tournament

| 

Activity BB  
  
12:00 PM

| 

Basketball Competition

| 

Activity BC  
  
14:00 PM

| 

Taekwondo Tournament

| 

Activity BD  
  
16:00 PM

| 

Fencing Tournament

| 

Activity BE  
  
21:00 PM

| 

Soccer Competition

| 

Activity BF & Z  
  
 

** Wednesday: **

11:00 AM

| 

Talent Competition

| 

Activity CA  
  
---|---|---  
  
15:00 PM

| 

Cookout Competition

| 

Activity CB  
  
18:00 PM

| 

Cookout Judging (by Prefects)

| 

Activity CC & Z  
  
20:00 PM

| 

Talent Show

| 

Activity CD & Z  
  
 

** Thursday: **

09:00 AM

| 

Math Olympiad

| 

Activity DA  
  
---|---|---  
  
11:30 PM

| 

Science Olympiad

| 

Activity DB  
  
14:00 PM

| 

Lingual Olympiad

| 

Activity DC  
  
18:00 PM

| 

General Knowledge Competition

| 

Activity DD  
  
20:00 PM – 08:00 AM

| 

Sleepover in School

| 

Activity DE  
  
 

** Friday: **

10:00 AM

| 

Award Ceremony

| 

Activity EA  
  
---|---|---  
  
13:00 PM

| 

Feast

| 

Activity EB  
  
15:00 – 19:00 PM

| 

Free

| 

-             
  
20:00 PM

| 

Party

| 

Activity X  
  
23:45 PM

| 

Fireworks

| 

Activity EC  
  
 

**STUDENT BOOKLET: FILL-IN FORM**

I, _(your name here) …………………………._ in class _……….._ in house _……………._ wish to partake in activities _……………………………._ and _…………………………_  

I would like to participate in extra activities, such as:

 

Jeonghan is standing in the Prefect Room in my stead, handing out the student booklets with their schedules and sign-up forms folded in, while I’m at the computer trying to phone in arrangements for stalls, a bouncy castle, a thousand twinkle lights for a gala, some floats for a parade and every other gizmo and gadget I could possibly need. Also, all the Prefects are angry with me, so it’s not helping my mood.

If you’ve never seen five teenagers and a demon in a high-school uniform fold over fifteen-thousand little paper booklets inside two hours, you honestly haven’t lived.

But if we want to put on a good show in just over a month, things need to be done quickly – very quickly. And as much as I would like to, creating a 5-day bonanza for over five-thousand students within such a small time-frame is impossible. Even for me.

I finally put down the phone, done with calls for _one_ day, and trip over as soon as possible to go help Jeonghan. “You’re doing great, sport.”

“Watch it,” he grumbles.

 

“This wasn’t much fun,” DK groans.

“I hate school.”

“I hate Joshua for making us do all that.”

“I hate _everything_.”

“And there, ladies and gentlemen,” I mutter back, “is a procession from the nicest to the darkest Prefect. No offense, Jihoonie.”

He shakes his head, strewn across several tables. “None taken. Believe me. It’s a compliment.”

“I hate you, Joshua,” Wonwoo repeats.

“I heard you the first time.” I stretch. “Thanks, guys.”

“Why is this such a big deal, anyway?” DK gets up to make some coffee even though it’s already five PM. “Like… why _so_ dramatically big? It seems a bit useless, to be honest.”

I take a deep breath. “Can you guys keep a secret?”

“ _Duh,_ ” Seungcheol mutters.

“…Principle Shin bet Jaehwang’s Principle. If we lose more than half the tournaments, Jaehwang _wins_ our school. We get assimilated into their program.”

Wonwoo turns to me, as emotionless as always, but stronger this time, like it takes more energy to conjure the cold look on his face than usual. “He _gambled_ the entire _school_ away?”

“He’s a class A idiot, why do you think I’ve been running this place so long?”

Jeonghan slowly pulls a left-over booklet off his face. “How long _have_ you been running this school?”

I sigh and lean over to Jihoon. “How long have I been playing Joker Prefect?’

“Third year now,” he mutters back.

“Three years,” I answer.

Jihoon pulls himself forward when DK hands him a hot cup of coffee. “They created the Joker position the first year Joshua entered school. He just didn’t fit in in just one house. He’s a perfect combination of all the houses.”

“Well, aren’t you special.”

“Watch it, Jeonghan,” I sour back. “Listen guys, once we’ve upped Jihoon’s caffeine level and it’s safe for him to be moved without him killing a man, we should go.”

Seungcheol smiles. “If you guys want, I’ll stick with him.”

“Nah, I have to lock up.”

His smile falters.

“Sorry, no hot make-out sessions in the Prefecture Room tonight guys. Come on, let’s pack up and _go home_.”

 

“So uh… any particular reason you’re stalking me?”

“Concordat.”

I stop in the middle of the street, turning on him. “Hey, now. Listen. It’s not like you can come into my home and tell my family you’re a demon attached to be my bodyguard or some shit.”

He stares at me, shrugging. “Why not?”

“WHY NOT?!”

“Alright, alright!” He purses his lips. “God, I’ve never heard of a Concordat being this troublesome.”

“Well excuse us all, your majesty.”

“You’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’.”

“I’m sorry, did I step out of reality and walk right into a rendition of Grease?”

Jeonghan glares at me, and it’s kind of strange on his face. With the sun just finishing its course, it always seems to be a little more golden, and the light is kind of pretty in his light-brown eyes. His face is so pretty and delicate, it’s funny to see him so angry.

I’m not too bad myself. Well, I’m not the school heartthrob like Seungcheol is, but I’m alright. I’m tall and slender, but still kinda strong. I think I’ve got nice cheekbones. And now I’m back to wishing I could find somebody to fall in love with who has nice cheekbones. I rub my wrists subconsciously.

Jeonghan’s taller than me, only by a bit, but it’s annoying. He towers over me, and pulls in to be really intimidating. “Hey, pipsqueak. Don’t get funny with me. I’m _still_ a demon. I’m starting to think purgatory is worth being able to murder you.”

I just stand there. Well, what do you say when the demon attached to you threatens to kill you? God, it’s been a long day.

Jeonghan grips me by the shoulders and turns me around, giving me a prod in the back. “Just get on your way, Twinkie, before I take advantage of your adorable size.”

“Hey!” I shout, plodding along unhappily. “I’m not that small!”

“You’re skinny. It’s cute.”

“Is not!”

“Just keep walking,” he mutters behind me.

Once I get home, I’m about to turn to Jeonghan to ask what exactly he’s planning to do until I hear a whoosh and see a dark figure sitting upstairs on my balcony.

_The nerve._

“I’m home!”

“Oh, well, congratulations.”

I sigh. My mom has this real passive-aggressive thing going on ‘cause I won’t show her my wrists, and knowing my mom she can keep it up for weeks. For now, it can’t be helped. I tell her I’ve already eaten – not entirely a lie because I did have a hot dumpling somewhere during the afternoon – and just leg it up to my room.

He’s sitting there, making himself really comfortable, on _my_ bed with _my_ comforter on his lap reading _my_ favorite book Lord of the Flies. Eating an apple.

_What an asshole._

I take the book very quickly from him. “That’s mine,” I scowl.

“Hey, what’s yours is mine now.” Jeonghan lies down all too happily on my bed, hands behind his head in that typically douchey dude-bro way.

I hit him in the knee with the book. “We’re not married, you know.”

“That’s a matter of opinion. A Concordat is considered more unbreakable than marriage, you know. And it’s more absolute.” Suddenly he smirks, gets his eyes really narrow, and sits up again, close to me. “I’ve got you forever.”

“What are you-”

Suddenly he jumps up and tugs his arms around my waist, pulling me in up alongside his body. One of his hands grips the back of my head. “You’re _mine_ ,” he whispers with a grin. “Delicious and skinny and pure and innocent. How I’d _love_ to take advantage of you.”

“Get your hands off me!” I push against his chest, shoving, but it makes about as much difference to him as it would a brick wall: he just laughs, so I punch him in the shoulder.

It hurts me a lot more than it hurts him.

“Hey now, Twinkie,” he smirks, “that’s no way to treat your lover.”

“Lover?!” The shriek is more indignant than surprised. What an asshole.

Jeonghan moves forward and, caged as I am, I’ve got no choice but to stumble backwards until he’s got me up against the wall. He leans down, and for the first time, I notice he’s wearing cologne. A dark, bitter kind of scent.

“Yes, pretty little doll,” he whispers lowly, leaning in, staring into my eyes. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? I’m a first-class lover. I’ll take good care of you, I promise.”

“You need to shut up,” I hiss back angrily.

“Aw, baby. Don’t be like that. I’ll make you feel-” His eyes bulge and he bites his lip, freezing for a moment before he lets me go.

Ahhhh the sweet salvation of a kick to the groin. Works every time.

“Jerk,” I bark at him. “You go seduce somebody else with your shitty skills. I’ve got _work_ to do.”

“Don’t you ever do anything that isn’t work?” he asks petulantly, taking up on my bed again.

I pull myself up to my full height and give him a haughty look, but the moment I want to give him a sassy retort, I find that I can’t.

Because, and God save me for saying it, but he’s right.


	6. Fun

He’s adorable, in a really annoying way. He just sits there at this tiny little desk with a small laptop, researching God knows what. He’s doing a _really_ good job at ignoring me, though. So far I’ve made 15 attempts to annoy him, and he hasn’t so much as flinched.

Last night, I was just looking for somewhere peaceful to die. I knew I was dying. There was so much blood. So much darkness. I could already feel the flames of purgatory licking around my digits. So I just kept running until I saw a curtain move and I thought I would find a floor there.

And then suddenly I can stand up, and I’ve got the blood-red scar of the Concordat on my chest. Which wasn’t exactly part of my big plan to survive, but I can’t exactly complain. After all, he _did_ save my life, involuntary or not.

I wasn’t even entirely sure Concordat was a real thing before I legged it into his bedroom. It’s been years since one was ever placed. I guess it’s because there aren’t a lot of pure souls hanging around saving demon’s lives. And to be honest, watching this crazy high-schooler work, it’s not much of a surprise why there aren’t more pure souls. Yeah, yeah, the first requirement is for that person to be a virgin, but there are also minor requirements like responsibility and kindness.

Nobody’s that perfect, except for this asshole.

And okay, okay, I give him a hard time for being a high schooler, and yes, that’s hypocritical. I became a demon when I was only eighteen, so it’s not like we have a huge age gap or anything, but I _have_ been a demon for a good 200-something years, so I feel like I may have a slight advantage over him.

I tease him, but only because he’s kind of cute when he reacts to the teasing. He’s skinny, and skinny is _not_ usually my type, but it’s pretty damn cute. I’m torn between wanting to break his face for chaining me to him, and wanting to break his hipbones by drilling into him. There’s something about his thin little frame that makes me want to seduce him. Just to see what it would be like, you know?

And maybe that’s mischievous, but I’m a demon. I get to be mischievous. It’s in the brochure.

I guess he’s a typical little nerd, with the glasses and the uniform. He changed out of it earlier, opting for jeans and a dress-shirt with tie instead. Which, to me, is a pretty shitty change-over. I snapped myself into jeans and a black t-shirt _real_ fuckin’ quick.

“So, where’s your dad around these parts? Your mom’s wicked angry with you, too. What you do, forget to mow the lawn?”

He doesn’t turn, but thank _God_ he finally speaks, ‘cause I’m going to go crazy with boredom. “Our lawn is trimmed to a precise height of 2.8 centimeters. I have twenty-three different spot-check points where I use a ruler to measure it every other Sunday. Ruler’s in the third drawer if you want to check it.”

You see that? Right there? That’s why this asshole is such a bother. I asked him two real questions, and he decided to answer the snide comment. ‘Cause he’s a little goody two-shoes that runs after a Principle and has no backbone.

“Don’t you have any siblings?”

“My older sister is studying in the USA.”

“Oh, older sister?”

Joshua turns around in his chair and gives me a look I genuinely haven’t seen before. It’s more than his adorable little warning glares: it’s full-on fury. “Don’t you even _think_ of my sister you messed-up pervert, so help me God I’ll end your pathetic existence.”

I hold up both palms. I’m not intimidated, but a vein’s pulsing in his forehead and I think it might burst. “Alright, alright, I was just being nosy.”

“Be nosy about something else,” he growls coldly, turning away again.

“Jeesh, so touchy.” Why did I get a Concordat with such a hot-and-cold figure?

“Go leap off a cliff, Jeonghan.”

Well, isn’t that nice! “For somebody who is going to have to deal with me for his entire life, you’re not being very nice.”

Joshua turns to me again, this time looking more tired. “Okay, what do I do?”

I wait for more information, but he doesn’t volunteer any. “What do you mean, what do you do?”

“To get rid of you. What do I do? Sacrifice a virgin, sell my soul, _what_?”

I stare at him, because he really, _honestly_ doesn’t seem to get it. “Dude,” I mutter, “a Concordat is a sacred, _unbreakable bond_. It’s coded in by Heaven’s angels themselves, into our DNA. You can’t just _get rid of it_. It’s a blood vow, it’s unbreakable, you don’t just get _rid_ of a Concordat. When you touched my blood with yours it was a sacred vow on your part that you would risk a drop of a pure man’s blood for a demon!”

“I didn’t do it on purpose, can’t we just explain this whole thing to-”

“To who?” I demand, standing. My horns pull out but I can’t help that now. “Who are you going to explain it to?! Nobody is hell _can_ help you and nobody in Heaven has time!”

Joshua observes me for a moment, entirely unimpressed. He crosses his arms a moment. “Why are _you_ getting so upset?”

This kid has some nerve. Like I don’t have any reasons to be upset. As if I’m not just as locked in as he is. “What, you think I wanted to be a twink’s lackey for the next seventy-odd years?”

“Stop calling me a twink!”

“Then stop being one.”

Joshua stands now, too, and part of my anger dissipates. He’s so young. His life is so fragile. He’s so _tiny_ , in width at least. He’s got such a young, innocent look in his eyes. Like he can take on the world, hell and heaven all by himself. And in some God-awful way like I haven’t seen in a few hundred years or so, he reminds me of _me_ , when I was a human.

Fragile. Breakable. Scared. Alone.

Yeah. My anger dissipates. My anger dissipates a lot.

“You know what your problem is?” He pushes a finger up against my chest. “You think you’re so _hot_.”

I grin. He made a very ironic joke and he doesn’t even know it himself. Hehe. _Hot_.

“You think you’re so damn cool, with your little smirks and your horns and whatever! Just blow over already!”

“Joshua, you’re going to give yourself a headache,” I tell him calmly. “Relax a little.”

“Relax, relax?!” And with that, he curls up a fist and takes a swing at me.

 

“…I don’t know what came over me.”

I want to tell him to stop blabbering and fussing about it. After all, I’ve taken more than a measly punch in the jaw from a human before, and besides, it doesn’t hurt so much. But I don’t tell him. Because I kind of like how he’s getting all fussy and keeping ice against my cheek and how worried his little face looks.

“I’m really, really sorry. Please stay still.” He leans his face up really close, inspecting it. “Aish, it’ll bruise if we don’t keep the ice on it. I’m sorry. I got too passionate. I didn’t _really_ mean to hit you.”

I don’t answer. It’s hard enough, keeping a smile off my face. He’s cute. Like a cartoon character. Especially with those big, sparkly eyes and toothpick limbs. The kind of boy who’s the school president in anime. Sports anime. Yup. That’s Joshua.

“Have you eaten?”

“…what?”

“You must be hungry. An apple doesn’t sustain you for-”

“Demons don’t eat,” I mutter.

“…oh.”

I don’t turn to see his expression, I already know what it is. “Why are you so worried anyway? You’re the one that hit me, you know.”

“I already know I hit you, then at least let me be the one to help you.” He sits down casually on the bed next to me, pressing his thigh up against mine so he can keep the ice on my face. “At least let me make up for my wrongdoings…”

I roll my eyes. “No wonder you’re a virgin.”

He pauses, freezes in fact. I can almost hear his tendons cracking as he tenses every muscle in his body. “Excuse me?”

“I said it’s no wonder you’re a virgin! You’re so _nice_ , who wouldn’t friendzone you…”

With that Joshua stood up, took the ice, and smacked me in the face.

 

“I’m sorry.”

“You said that already. Aren’t you done?!”

“We have to dry the water off properly or your skin will dry out.”

“I’m a _demon_ ,” I mutter back.

“Sh.” He’s got some cotton pads and he won’t stop dabbing them all over my face. “And besides, what you said isn’t true. I’m not friendzoned. There are loads of girls who want to date me. Loads!”

“So why don’t they?”

“Well, I have no time for things like that. I’m a Prefect. I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

“Sure, if you agree to help a useless man save a school.”

“I’m not unhappy about the situation.” Joshua sighs deeply, and comes at me again with a new cotton pad. “After all, it’s not like I can’t do it. And a chance to show off the school… I love Deck High. All the students are friendly, the clubs are a lot of fun, and the other Prefects are some of my best friends. I get to hold a position of power and I get to be special, all at the same time.”

I give him a look, and then swat away his hands. “Alright, alright, that’s enough. I’m already drier than the Sahara Desert, or were you going to blot all my oil away too?”

He gives me a vaguely upset look, throwing the cotton in his trashcan. “I was just helping.”

“I’ve been smacked in the face twice today. Twice!” I hold up two fingers, just in case he’s too blunt to get it. “I think you’ve helped enough for one evening.”

“Fine.” He turns away to clean up his things but then suddenly stands up straight, pointing at me. “You! Why didn’t my face hurt when I hit you!”

I glare. This kid is too weird. “Why would your face hurt?!”

“That’s how it works, right?”

“Only _I_ get hurt if you get hurt, not the other way around!”

“Oh. That’s convenient. I get to hit you whenever I like.”

I tilt my head at him. Normally, I’d get upset, but he hasn’t noticed yet. “Joshua.”

He turns and frowns at my sudden change to a calm tone. “…yes?”

“You haven’t noticed?”

“…what?”

I point at my face: more specifically, at my lip. A tiny fleck of black blood is there, but I know it will trickle out if it isn’t closed over properly.

“Oh, you’re bleeding.”

 _How annoying. Can’t you remember anything, useless cucumber?!_ “And are you going to fix it?”

“It’s just a tiny scratch,” he shrugs.

“Joshua,” I call again.

“What?!” He turns around again, fed-up with me, which is exactly what I want.

I give him a pleasant smile, still pointing at my face. “Lick it.”

 

After a good few hours of complaining and whining, he finally licks his finger and then touches the wound before he leaves to brush his teeth. He comes back in slacks and a wide t-shirt.

I frown. “What are you doing?”

He looks me up and down. “Where do demons sleep?”

“You’re going to _bed_?! It’s only eleven PM! How do you live? Don’t you _do_ anything with your life?!”

He puts his hands on his hips like a huffy mom. “If you don’t tell me where demons sleep, you’re bunking on the floor.”

I purse my lips at him. “Demons usually either don’t sleep, because we can stay awake longer than humans can, or we bunk in hell. However, a Concordat demon must always sleep in the same place as its master in order to make sure that person is safe.”

Joshua looks me up and down again, and this time he does it in a way that makes me think he really doesn’t like the sound of that. “We won’t fit together in my bed,” he eventually mutters.

“Another reason you’re a virgin,” I mutter. “Regardless, I wasn’t going to suggest that. I’ll sleep on the ceiling.”

It takes him a moment. “Excuse me?”

“It’s a demon thing.”

“…you won’t sleep on the ceiling directly above me, right?”

“Of course I will! So I can drop down on any intruders!”

Joshua folds his arms. “I suppose there’s no way to convince you not to do that, is there?”

“No, there’s not.” It’s not like I like it either, but those are the rules. Especially now I know what kind of people Joshua hangs out with – those other _Prefects_ – I can’t leave him alone. If something were to happen to him, it’d be my neck on the line, so I gotta stay woke, as kids say nowadays.

Joshua lies down in bed and I gently float up until my back hits the ceiling. I shift over to float just above Joshua, who gives me a cautious look. “You’ll go right to sleep?”

I roll my eyes. “Yes. Sleeping humans aren’t interesting enough to stay awake for.”

“…don’t look at me!”

I sigh. “Are you always like this? Fine, fine!” The looks this kid gives me, as if I’m the problem. I shut my eyes demonstratively, and I don’t open them until I hear his breathing slow down.

It’s interesting to see him asleep. His face is all at rest. It’s only now that I notice how relaxed he is; now I see how much of his facial muscles are constantly tensed. He looks very different without his standard heavy gold watch on his wrist and without those nerdy, thin-framed little glasses. He looks like a real high-schooler. A bloke. He looks a lot more attractive too. How annoying.

Once I’m done staring at how different he is – I wasn’t lying when I said sleeping humans aren’t too interesting – my gaze darts to the open balcony door, and I scuttle from my place on the ceiling to silently drop to the carpet.

Time to have some _fun_.


	7. The Bet

“Hey, fucker.”

I spin tensely, but as I turn I’m at ease. That voice belongs to somebody who can’t touch me. I grin at the dark figure on the rooftop. “Well hey there, bitch.”

When he’s around Joshua he has this emotionless, cold look going on. I already saw a hint of anger in him earlier, but he kept it under control really well. Now he’s full-blown _furious_ , jaw defined and gritted, eyes blazing, his entire body curled forward with little fists shaking. He’s so angry, he can’t even speak for a moment, and I take full advantage.

“What, come to make sure I didn’t kill him in his sleep?” I laugh at him, making sure to annoy him as much as possible, ‘cause it’s just _too_ much fun. “Are you so afraid for your Joshie-poo?”

He lets out a screech that I can only describe as _hellish_ , which I think is hilarious in its irony. He begins to pace closer to me, stalking. He thinks I’m a fool for standing where I am and not moving, but he’ll figure it out soon enough. “You’re going to stay _away_ from him,” he growls. He’s leaned in like a leopard, stalking its prey in the tall grass.

“I don’t think so,” I smirk.

He makes a swipe for me, and he’s incredibly upset when his hand ducks away from my body against his will. He tries again, talons at the ready, but no matter how much he tries to grip me, his hands slide away, unable to touch me.

Then, very slowly, I pull off my shirt to show off the large scar in my chest signalling the sign of the Concordat.

Wonwoo _hisses_ unhappily, skittering back a few steps. He can’t take his eyes off the red mark on my chest, like it’s physically hurting him. He keeps spitting like an unhappy kitten for a few moments until he finally shuts up.

“So you see,” I smirk annoyingly, “Joshua is in _no_ kind of danger from me. In fact, in time, I think he might even learn to _want_ me around. He’s going to be lonely without me, and when I get him just right, he’s going to-”

Wonwoo presses his hands up against his head in order not to hear what I have to say. “Fuck you!” he fires back angrily. “He’s been put under _my_ protection!”

“And mine.” A second voice lands on the rooftop behind me, and I already know it’s DK. He doesn’t sound like he’s smiling, though. Good. “We’ve been set here to protect Joshua and we won’t have you messing that up.”

“Oh, is that so?” I sit down where I can see both of them and smile. “Well you’ll both be very disappointed, because that little twink in there is _mine_.”

DK looks up at Wonwoo with a surprisingly calm demeanor. “I wouldn’t worry so much, Wonwoo,” he says simply. “Joshua’s too smart to fall for crap like that.” I take offence at the thumb that’s jerked my way.

“…you have a point,” Wonwoo concedes, looking at me with a new perspective. “He’s a piece of shit. A demon. Joshua would never fall for him.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” I grin. “I can be very convincing. After all, seduction is something we demons are _awfully_ good at.”

Wonwoo’s jaw moves again, and the hatred is back. “You wouldn’t.”

“I don’t even _need_ demonic powers to seduce him. He’s a _pure virgin_ , for crying out loud. A little while with me and he’ll be begging for it.”

“Even DK has a better chance with Joshua than you do,” Wonwoo throws at me. “We’ve known him for years. He likes us. And at least if he’s with an _angel_ he’ll still be pure.”

The two of them high-five, and I think it’s kind of funny that they’re so lax when they don’t know how persuasive I can be.

“You think a couple of angels are going to be better at seducing Joshua than a demon?” I laugh, making sure that it’s loud. “You guys are crazy. You wouldn’t even know where to start. Please. His purity and virginity are going to lose to me. You can kiss your jobs goodbye.”

“It’s not just a job.” DK observes me with a vague kind of disdain, his pretty silver feathers shuffling in the breeze. “We like Joshua. He’s a good guy. And we don’t want him in a relationship with the likes of _you_.”

“Relationship?” I repeat, wincing at the idea. It sets off an uneasy, queasy feeling in my stomach that I work hard to ignore. “Who said anything about having a relationship? I was just going to fuck him and leave it at that. Screwed once and then rejected doesn’t just hit his virginity, it’ll hit his _purity_.”

The two angels look at each other.

“I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him myself.”

I sit there, rocking happily. “You can’t,” I sing. “You need Joshua’s permission to touch me!”

DK suddenly points at me. “You know about Seungcheol and Jihoon?”

“What, the witch and his human counterpart? Sure. Why?”

“They’re on our side.” He cocks his head with a pitying look on it. “Do you think you can handle all four of us?”

“With one arm tied behind my back,” I grin.

The angel sits rather close to me, glaring. “Fine. Graduation night is the last night. Sun-up on the very next day is the deadline. No inhuman powers allowed. If Joshua chooses one of us to lie with before that, we win. If you manage to trick him into lying with you, you win.”

I lean forward. “And what do I win then? What’s the prize?”

“Isn’t defiling _our_ Joshua enough?!” he shouts.

I give him a look.

“Fine.” He stands and goes to Wonwoo, taking him away to whisper about it. When they come back, he gives me a grave look. “…if you win, you get us.”

“You?”

“Two angels. How much is an angel worth, in hell?”

There’s no way I’m telling them _that_. “Not important. But… fine. And if you win, then you get…?”

“Then you buzz off,” Wonwoo mutters.

I hold up a finger, ticking it side-to-side. “I can’t leave him, remember? It’s physically impossible.”

They look at each other, and DK turns to me. “Let’s change the bet then. If you lose, we put you in purgatory. If you win… we’ll undo your Concordat.”

I jump up at the idea. Undo a Concordat? “You can do that?”

“There’s a few guys that owe us a few favors. We can get it done. Do we have a deal?”

I look at them. Gambling with angels is always a bad idea, but right now it’s too tempting. Purgatory? Not a place I want to be, ever. But being unchained from my Concordat… is too compelling. Being free. Not having to hang around the overworked twink for the foreseeable future.

“You’ve got a deal, halo-boy. You’ve got a deal.”

 

There’s no way to sleep right. Not really. Not when you’ve been chained to a demon of hell for the rest of your life and the future of your entire school depends on your skills as an organizer and academic. It tends to stress a guy out a little.

So I wake up with knots in my neck bigger than the ones I went to sleep with, and that tends to make me a little grumpy.

Jeonghan’s already dressed in the school uniform, spinning around on my chair. I reach over to put my glasses on and then slide my watch onto my wrist.

He stops spinning.

He looks different today, and I realize he’s taken his hair out of the ponytail. It hangs in long tresses past his face, giving him an even slimmer look. “Good morning, sexy,” he smiles.

All I can think is _it’s too early for this shit_. “What are _you_ looking at,” I mutter, swinging my legs over the side of my bed. I sigh as I rub my face and force myself to get up instead of falling back down like I really want to.

“Sleep well?” he asks perkily.

“No,” I mutter back, padding to the bathroom.

“…I slept fine, thanks!”

_Whatever._

He follows me up until the door, and I glare at him. “I’m sure you’ll understand if I want to shower in peace and, eh, privacy?”

He leans in to me with a grin. “Sure you don’t need some help? I’ll wash your back for you.”

I close the bathroom door with the loudest bang I possibly can.

 

“Hey, Joshua!”

“Hey! Ooh!”

DK smiles at me with his usual bright, sunny appearance. “Hot waffles from a waffle stand, with bacon and maple syrup.”

“DK, I love you,” I tell him seriously. I reach into the paper bag he’s given me and pull out the hot waffle, taking a huge bite. It’s a little too hot and it burns the very tip of my tongue, but there’s the sweetness of syrup and saltiness of bacon to distract me. “Oh, it’s so good.”

Jeonghan seems to glare over my head. “You brought him _breakfast_?”

“I always bring Joshua breakfast on Tuesdays,” he defends. “Every week!”

“He does,” I mutter through a mouthful of waffle.

Jeonghan isn’t mollified, but he lets it go.

“Listen,” I tell them once I’m done eating, “I’ve got time off my afternoon classes so I can call around and fix up this festival, but I expect you Prefects to be in class. Got that?”

“I got it.”

“So did I,” A new voice mutters from behind me. Wonwoo curls his arms around my waist, hugging me a bit before he picks me up and walks up to school like I’m a child. “Can’t I come help you? Please?”

“Wonwoo!” I laugh. “Put me down, the students will see! It’s alright, I don’t need extra help. Jeonghan will be with me, anyway.”

Wonwoo rests his chin on my shoulder, peering at me from the side. “That’s what I’m worried about.”

“Don’t be mean.” I nudge him in the chest with my elbow gently. “Anyway, I’ll just need you guys in after class to help with details.”

“I don’t wanna after class.” Jihoon seems to come in flying out of nowhere. “Seungcheol and I have a date.”

“A date with my boot if y’all don’t watch it,” I grumble at him, and his boyfriend rushing up after him. “Am I supposed to do everything myself? Do you know how much I’m missing out on my after-school curricular for this? Don’t forget our school is on the line here!”

“Oh yeah,” Wonwoo and DK mumble.

“And Wonwoo! Get that bird out of my hair or so help me!”

Wonwoo’s raven flies off to sit in its usual spot by the Prefect’s window of the school as I waltz through the front door. “You guys are a pest,” I mutter. “Get Jihoon some coffee and go to class.”

“Hey.” DK throws his arms around me. “What’s wrong, Joshua? You’re not usually in a mood like this.”

I sigh. DK is my oldest friend. Well, together with Wonwoo. We grew up together. He knows everything about me, and it’s not fair for me to snap at him. “Sorry, DK.” I let my head loll onto his arm. “I didn’t mean to yell. I just didn’t sleep very well.”

He comes in closer and squeezes my waist. “That’s okay. Do you want to take a nap later?”

“No, I gotta work.” I rub my face with one palm. Just _thinking_ of the work I have to do for this stupid festival makes me tired. “I’ll be okay. Sorry.”

He strokes my hair.

I’ve always found DK’s presence to be very calming. He’s kind of the caretaker between us; almost a doting mother figure. I love him like a brother, and he probably does, too. My whole life, DK has been there to be my personal little ray of sunshine.

“If you need me come and get me, alright?”

I smile, even though I know I’ll never take him up on the offer. “Thanks, DK.”

Jeonghan follows me to morning classes obediently – a little _too_ obediently, if you ask me – and when I finally get to the Prefecture room, he changes again.

The moment the door closes the filthy demon puts his hands on my waist and presses me up against a wall. “Joshua,” he says slowly.

I fold my arms, unimpressed. What kind of trick is he trying to pull now? “What?”

“Don’t be angry,” he purrs.

I purse my lips. “Why not? And get your hands off me”

He frowns a bit, sighing heavily, but doesn’t move. “How come when those other guys hold you like you’re a fucking princess it’s fine, but when I touch you, you get all huffy?”

I roll my eyes. This must be the dumbest demon in hell. Typically my luck, to get chained to the idiot of the Underworld. “Because the others have been my best friends for years. Because the others are nice to me and don’t stare at me while I’m sleeping. Because the others don’t follow me around. Because the others don’t call me names! And most of all, because the others aren’t creatures from the Underworld bent on destroying my life with their constant presence!”

Jeonghan thinks about that before stepping away for a moment and letting me go: I take advantage and slither away to sit at the computer. I’m dialling the phone to speak to a retailer about getting #TeamDeck t-shirts when he says it.

“DK and Wonwoo are Angels, Jihoon’s a witch and Seungcheol is his human sidekick!” He gives me a proud, haughty look, grinning from a height. “Now what do you think of them?”


	8. Swim Team Rumors

“This is the Joker Prefect speaking. All Prefects please report to the Prefecture room, on the double, thank you.”

I’m the only Prefect in biology at the moment, so I’m the only one getting up to leg it. Joshua sounds upset. _Very_ tense.

All I can think of is him and that… _demon_. If he’s hurt Joshua, I’ll end him. I don’t care that I’m supposed to be the Lord’s messenger. I’ll kill him with my own hands, if it loses me my wings and halo and all. Because there is _nothing_ more important – nothing that could _ever_ be more important – than Joshua.

Joshua’s smile. Joshua’s bright, twinkly eyes. The way he swings his arms when he walks. The way he whistles. The way he is always as fair and just as possible. And his soul…

Yeah, we’re not supposed to look at his soul. Pure souls are so precious, they have to be preserved in the most careful way. We’re not supposed to go peeking in. But when I saw his soul for the first time it was the most _glorious_ , most exquisite thing I ever beheld. How could any one person be so beautiful, so kind, so pure? How could his soul shine so much?

I know Wonwoo has seen is soul too. I don’t know if he knows that I know that he’s seen it, but it doesn’t really matter, either. Because I know that Wonwoo is just as impressed as I am.

And to be honest, even in the charade that is our lives as we pretend to be human for Joshua, there was no way out for me. I was hooked from the very first day. Joshua is like a drug, and I’m one crazy-ass addict. I can’t get enough of him. I can’t get enough of his voice, his scent.

Yeah. I guess it’s possible for an angel to fall in love with a human. Especially when that human is more of an angel than I am. It’s okay. I don’t really feel shame about it. I’m just happy he exists in my life.

There’s just something about him that makes me wonder how the whole world isn’t in love with him already. He’s the most beautiful person, in and out, that I’ve ever met. When he turns his head and smiles, that’s it. Every single time I think I’ll be okay, then his eyes crease at the corners and I’m lost. I’m wading through a lifetime of happiness, years of being by his side and marvelling at him. And there’s nothing that can inspire me with more happiness than seeing Joshua.

So it’s safe to say that a denizen of _Hell_ being attached to him at the hip puts me on edge.

I’m not the only one running: I meet Wonwoo in the first hallway and Jihoon and Seungcheol are already at the door, waiting. I rush in first, anxious.

Joshua’s entire face is blood-red, and he’s shaking from head to toe. The calendar in his hands quickly becomes a projectile weapon.

“ _GUARDIAN ANGELS_?!” he screams.

Ooooh boy.

 

All I can think is _he’s going to hurt himself. He’s going to hurt himself!_ I panic, blindly. I can’t let him hurt himself. If Joshua hurts himself anywhere near me, I’ll never forgive myself. It’s like that time when he was twelve and he fell off his bike and broke his arm, and I never forgave myself for that either.

I’m moving before I even know it myself. God knows what he’ll pick up next? I’ve never seen him so angry, but it’s not like it’s an unjust anger. Joshua has every right to be angry.

And I’m angry, too, but I’ll deal with the vermin from the Underworld later.

“Joshua, Joshua!” His name rolls off my tongue so easily. Like it was meant to be in my mouth. “Joshua!”

“I hate you!” he screams. His whole face is red – bright red. I duck the wireless mouse he throws next and manage to get my arms around him before he can find his next weapon. “Let me go! Let! Me! Go!”

I place my lips near his ear. “Just calm down,” I whisper, trying to eradicate any urgency in my tone. I try to make it peaceful. “Please, Joshua, calm down. You’ll hurt yourself.”

“Let me go!” He’s struggling hard, and it takes up a lot of energy to keep him from getting free. He’s screaming, still red. So upset. He’s so upset. I’ve upset him so badly. “Let me go, you fu-”

“Please,” I beg in his ear. “Please, Joshua. Breathe. Breathe, you’re going to hurt yourself. Just… just breathe. You can hurt me however you want later. Just breathe.”

“Just let me go, Wonwoo!” His voice takes on a pleading tone, and it’s somehow weaker than his anger from before. “Just let me go, let me go!”

I think maybe he might be a little more sane now, but the moment my arms around his fragile frame loosen he skitters back from me. As if he’s _afraid_. And he walks away from me to go stand near a _demon_.

It’s not like I’m specifically _attached_ to Joshua in any weird way or anything. But it is my duty to make sure he’s safe and stays pure as long as possible, and the idea that he willingly walks away from my protection to go hang out with that piece of shit is a little more than I can bear.

“What have you _done_ to him?” I hiss, turning to the long-haired demon.

The creature shrugs, but he’s got a nasty little smirk on his face that I would just punch right off if I could. “Well, I thought I’d level things out. I can _not, believe,_ you _lied_ to him!!” Jeonghan puts a hand on Joshua’s shoulder. “How could you lie about everything you ever were!”

It relieves me a little to see Joshua shrug the demon’s hand off his precious, pure body.

“Listen here, you little-”

“He’s right.”

Usually, I’m the guy who has the corner on cold looks. I can look completely dead on command if I have to. I’m really good at it. Joshua never was. He can’t keep his emotions off his face unless he’s got a clipboard with a list on it in his hands. I’ve never seen him look so freezing cold before. The barrenness in his eyes… scares me a little.

“I thought you were my _friends_ ,” he whispers. The tone is haunting. “My only, my _best_ friends in the whole world. And all this time, you were making a mockery of me. Laughing behind my back. You’re just here to protect my _virginity._ ”

What can I even say to that? Yes, that’s why we were sent to earth. To protect you. But I never _once_ lied to Joshua. I would never have done anything to cause him harm. Now what? Because of that _demon_ , Joshua thinks I was pretending to be his friend.

 _Pretending_. Something in my stomach shifts uncomfortably. Just pretending.

Joshua slaps a stack of papers in my arms with an angry huff. He’s so upset that I physically stumble back a little. “Posters,” he snaps. “Hang them up in the hallways.”

He goes to DK, and hands him a piece of paper. “You, photocopy this and distribute it amongst the after-school club activities.” Then, Jihoon. He’s given a stack of papers and envelopes. “Letters to student’s parents. And you… just get your fucking boyfriend some coffee.”

And with that, Joshua stalks out of the room, making a point of it to slam the door behind himself. My stomach starts to do that funny twisting thing in my gut.

 _Joshua_. My Joshua. He’s upset. I’ve made him angry. I’ve hurt his feelings. I’ve gone so far and _hurt_ him. The one thing I’m supposed to protect. I’m supposed to safeguard his happiness, not destroy it. And worse yet, he thinks I’ve betrayed him. He thinks that I’ve been disloyal. He has no idea how loyal I am to him. He has no idea… what he could ask of me, and I would do, for him.

 

“It’s incredible you were able to make time for swim practice,” Vernon smiles at me. He’s a good kid. Sophomore. Excellent swimmer. “Thanks!”

“No problem,” I smile. It’s nice to get away from Prefect Mayhem Central for a while. Jeonghan is somewhere on the balcony over the swimming pool, probably, but he seems to be taking my warning to stay away from me more seriously than before. I need a good swim. It’ll clear my head to exercise a little.

I pull my shirt off very simply, and somebody seems to choke behind me. I don’t get far – my t-shirt’s still on my wrists – when a hand sticks itself to my back. “Joshua!”

The entire swim team falls still to stare at me. I stare back like a rabbit caught in the headlights. “Uh… yes?”

Vernon pulls me back a little and whips out his phone to take a picture of my back. He hands me the device in silence.

There, drawn across my back from my shoulders to my hips is a large, black **X**.

I suddenly understand, in all depth, the meaning behind the saying _the straw that broke the camel’s back_. Because on top of never having a single chance at my soulmate, being chained to a demon, being put in charge of the future of a school and finding out I’ve been betrayed by my best friends, now there’s this.

An Ovo on the right wrist signifies a soulmate. An Ovo on both wrists signifies that your love will be an extraordinarily beautiful, strong thing.

I’ve never heard of an Ovo being on somebody’s back, but I can imagine what the next level is, and I feel like I’m being torn apart at the seams very slowly. I’m being ripped, thread by single thread, until there’s nothing left of me.

Because I could have had the love of all loves. My soulmate would have been my everything. The most ultimate of loves, ever. And it’s _gone_ , it’s all gone, because that person doesn’t even exist anymore.

My shirt falls to the floor and I just look at my wrists in pain. The black **x** ’s there seem to be thicker, bolder and blacker than ever before.

Then I notice the rest of the swim team, and how they look. They’re all shocked, but in Vernon at least, the first lines of pity are starting to seep through. And I pity myself enough as it is. I don’t need them pitying me, too. “It’s nothing,” I mutter lowly, almost growling the words out.

“…Prefect, we-”

“I said it’s nothing,” I snap. I pull my goggles out of my bag and give them my stern Prefect look. “Are we going to stand around here staring at my back, or are we going to swim?”

 

By the time I’m dried off and ready to go back to work for another hour before heading home, the picture of my back and rumors are all over twitter.

It’s not like I expected any different. I knew from day one that this would not stay a secret forever. That I would be ridiculed and disrespected. That’s always the way, for people without Ovo.

When I arrive in the Prefecture room, it’s empty. Blissfully empty. I don’t want to have to see anybody more than I have to. Nobody in the swim team even talked to me. They didn’t even talk to each other.

I just get on the computer to update how far I am with ordering items.

“…hey.”

I don’t respond.

He takes a seat and sits on it back-to-front, but I don’t bother to comment. He seems to be in a slightly more sensitive mood than earlier. A little… softer. “…are you alright?”

“I’m working,” I say simply.

“I meant… your back.”

“It’s nothing.” I’m surprised at how easy it is for me to wipe it away – to say it’s nothing, as if it never affected me in the first place. As if it means nothing. The ashy emptiness in my chest seems to be alright with that, too.

Jeonghan gently rolls his chair forward, but stops when I give him a look. “…I never met somebody without an Ovo,” he says quietly. “Even every demon I’ve ever known had an Ovo as a human.”

“I told you it’s nothing.”

Jeonghan stays quiet for just a few moments. “…must be hard.”

“I said it’s nothing, are you going to let me work now?”

He holds his palms up to me as a sign of peace, but he’s grabbed my attention, and I can’t think of anything else. I turn to him, arms folded. “What do you mean, demons have Ovos?”

Jeonghan rolls up his sleeve to show me his wrist. Where an Ovo had once been, there was now just a large black burn mark in his pale white skin. “It gets burned away when you become a demon,” he shrugs, rolling the sleeve down. “Cause demons aren’t supposed to find happiness.”

“…so, you have to remember your Ovo?”

“Yeah, some people do.”

“Who was yours?”

“I don’t remember. It was a while ago.”

I raise an eyebrow. Well, that’s news. “How long ago?”

“I became a demon when I was eighteen, but… that was a couple of centuries or so ago.”

I purse my lips. “You look good for an old guy.” I turn back to the Excel file I’ve got open. “Nice. Today’s just full of surprises, I guess.”

“Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Just shut up,” I snap at him. I know I’m being a bit unreasonable, since I’m really mad at other people, but he’s the asshole who started it all. “It creeps me out when you start getting polite.”

He thinks about that. “…I’ll rub your back?”

I send him a glare. “Just sit there and make like an inanimate object, alright?”

Jeonghan smiles a winning grin. “Like an inanimate object?”

“Yes, inherently still and silent by nature.” I can’t help my fingertips hitting the keys a little too hard. “And if you’re good, daddy will buy you a cookie later.”

 

“…Jeonghan?”

It’s the middle of the night, but I know he’s not asleep yet. I don’t know a lot about demons, but I’m not an idiot. I know when Jeonghan is sleeping.

He opens his eyes. In the darkness of m room, they glow bright red. His arms are still folded when he looks down at me from my ceiling. “Joshua?” he whispers back.

“…how did you become a demon?”

He stares at me for a long time before he answers. “If you still want to know, I’ll tell you in the morning.”


	9. Un-Lonely

There’s hot coffee in the pot, still steaming. Donuts on the table in the middle of the room. The room has been cleaned and made orderly again after yesterday’s madness.

I’m not sure how to feel about it.

“Hey. Asshole.”

“Leave me alone, Seungcheol.” I don’t even turn to him: I simply go and pour myself a cup of coffee.

Seungcheol follows me. “Hey. I’m human, remember?”

I purse my lips, because _yeah_ sure he’s human, but he knew. He knew all along. And he laughed at me right along with everybody else.

“…I’m worried about you, Joshua. After yesterday. Are you going to be okay?”

The photos. The rumors. I’m not entirely sure what today will hold for me. Every single person in the school might decide that somebody without an Ovo to speak of shouldn’t be the Joker Prefect. And if that happens… I don’t know if there’s anybody I can turn to to fix the festival. I’ll lose my school.

“It’s nothing.”

“He’s been saying _it’s nothing_ for twenty-four hours,” Jeonghan gripes from the end of the room. “It’s something and it bothers him. Fix him, please. He’s a wet rag to be around.”

“Who told you to be around anyway?!” I scream back at him, turning quickly. “You have a 100 meter radius you can be in before we’re in trouble, so why don’t you just _buzz off_?!”

Jeonghan scoffs, rolls his eyes, and then he sees my expression and simply walks out the door.

Seungcheol gently puts his hand on my shoulder, and it makes me close my eyes. Once, I had considered him one of my closest friends. But now… but now.

“Joshua, don’t mistake our intentions,” he says lowly. “There has never been a moment – not for me, not for Jihoon, not for Wonwoo or DK – there has never been a moment where we felt anything less than complete loyalty to you, where we loved you any less than as a brother. There was never a day we laughed at you for not knowing. We… just wanted to keep you safe from evil. We thought that the less you knew, the better off you would be. We hurt you, and we’re sorry.”

I can’t move but to close my eyes. I can’t speak. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know if I can believe him.

“Joshua… whatever we can do to make it up to you, we will. We had no idea… your Ovo… I mean, anything. After all, Jihoon and I are humans, and Wonwoo and DK would go to hell and back for you, literally. You’re our family, and we need you. _Before_ my coffee-deprived boyfriend murders DK.”

I almost snort at that. _Almost_.

“We love you. Jihoon was so upset last night he didn’t want to go through with our Tuesday Movie Night. He wouldn’t even _look_ at The Notebook. He just kept muttering about how worried he was.”

I sigh. I don’t really want to feel bad for somebody who lied to me, but the idea of a sensitive, worrying Jihoon is kind of… cute. “You lied to me,” I whisper.

“Hey now, I’ve only been lying for a few months.” Seungcheol holds his hands up in defence. “Jihoon didn’t tell me dick before I got my Ovo.”

Well, that’s news. I fold my arms at the idea. “…so what did you do? When you found out?”

He smiles. “I said, well fuck, you’re the cutest boy that every dabbled in magic. And then we locked the front door and-”

“IIIII KNOW,” I yell, clamping my hands over my ears. “Please don’t tell me.”

Seungcheol grins. “Got you to talk to me.”

I roll my eyes. “I can’t believe you guys. I just… _can’t_ believe it. I thought you were my friends.”

“We are. We were. We want to be in the future, too, if you’ll let us. Don’t you ever think we were your friends for anything else than the fact that you’re out best friend, too.”

It’s kind of difficult, being mad at him. Seungcheol’s face hasn’t changed. He’s still got a soft, understanding look and a dopey smile on his face. And I begin to wonder what I’m kicking up such a fuss about.

Would Wonwoo and DK make fun of me like that? I already know the answer – _no_ , there’s not a chance in hell. They’d laugh at me if I got cake on my face or if I tripped, but they’d clean it off or help me up. They’d never poke fun at me like that.

Besides, now at least it’s clear what all the tension was on Jeonghan’s first day.

Seungcheol throws an arm around me and I lean in to him automatically. “It’ll be alright, you’ll see. We’d be a lost bunch of assholes without our Head Asshole to lead us. Hm?”

“You’d be terrible without me,” I admit with a half-smile. “Jihoon would never wake up without his coffee, Wonwoo would never smile, DK would never work… and you! Well, you’d just get lazy.”

Seungcheol salutes. “I will do my best not to be lazy! But only if you stay.”

I roll my eyes. What a drama queen. “Alright, alright.”

“Come on. There’s something we want you to see.”

He drags me out of the Prefecture room, and I go along willingly, a little embarrassed. What did I kick such a fuss up about in the first place, anyway? They’re still my friends. Always were. Always will be.

There, right on the school grouds, DK, Wonwoo and Jihoon all man little cardboard-box stalls. They’re handing out sports armbands with the school logo on them by the dozen; the queue of students lining up to get a sports band is unbelievable.

“…what are you _doing_?” I cry, flying over to where DK is chucking sports bands at people.

He turns to be with an ear-to-ear grin, and holds up his right hand. “I don’t have an Ovo yet, but I’ll be wearing one too.”

“What _is_ this?!”

“Everybody is wearing an armband over their Ovo.” He chucks two golden-colored ones at me. “In solidarity with their favorite Prefect.”

I slowly slide the armbands on: they’re a perfect fit to hide the dark marks on my wrists that single me out. When I look up, everybody seems to be sporting some color or other. Even the kids that don’t have Ovo’s yet.

“All for me,” I whisper.

“Yeah, Head Asshole,” Seungcheol grins. “All for you.”

 

He hangs up the phone, and the other people in the room are more tense than a man getting a rectal examination.

Joshua turns around in his chair.

“We got the bouncy castle.”

The Prefects explode with delight, and I’m left standing in the corner wondering why the _fuck_ I agreed to pretend to be a high-school student. I’d have been better agreeing to be a new substitute history teacher.

It’s annoying, how loved the little punk is. How everybody seems to rotate around him. And the sight of all those damn kids wearing armbands in _support_ of him… yuck! Okay, so he doesn’t have an Ovo. Even I was shocked. But that’s no reason to worship him like some kind of idol. Lots of people don’t have an Ovo. He’s nothing special.

More importantly, I’m just upset he _forgave_ them just like that. Hugged them and let them buy him lunch and whatever. That isn’t really helping me win this stupid bet.

Joshua sends the other Prefects home, and they all give me dirty looks. I just stand there and smirk, ‘cause no matter what, they can’t touch me, and I won today.

I sidle up next to the little geek as he messes around on the computer, leaning my chin on his shoulder. “We’re alone now.”

“Go blow a dick, Jeonghan.”

I smirk. “As you wish.” When I reach a hand out to undo his belt, he slides his chair a few feet away.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

I smile innocently. “You told me to blow a dick. I was making an attempt.”

He makes a gagging movement, and I take a little offense at that. I’m not half-bad looking, even for a demon. He points a finger at me. “You keep your fucking nasty little fingers off me.”

“You don’t know what you’re missing,” I tempt, slowly sliding towards him. “I’ll be gentle with you, I promise.”

“You’ll stay the fuck away from me is what you’ll do,” Joshua snaps back, halting me. “You’re a fucking _demon_. You’re a pervert and a trouble-maker and a nuisance, and I can’t _wait_ for the day I get rid of you, even if that’s the day I die! Do I make myself clear?!”

I won’t lie and say it doesn’t bruise my ego. I’m a catch. I’m tall and handsome and I’m _killer_ in bed. And I haven’t done anything to make him so angry, so what’s his problem?

“You’ve got a real mouth on you, you know,” I spit. “What makes you so special?”

Joshua stares, open-mouthed. Complete shock. He can’t believe that _I_ don’t believe he’s special. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me! What makes you so important that you get to be such an arrogant prick?”

“Get lost, Jeonghan!”

“How can I get lost, I’m not supposed to leave your side!”

Joshua seethes at me for a single moment until he stands up. “You’re supposed to protect me, right?”

I cross my arms, ‘cause I don’t like the sudden turn this conversation is making. “Yeah, why?”

“You have supernatural powers to do so, right? As a demon.”

My answer is slower, now. “Yeah… _why_?”

Joshua throws me a winning smile, and I almost stumble back. Then he simply heads for the huge open window, and pulls himself up onto the windowsill.

It takes me too long to realize what he’s doing. “No!”

Joshua springs off his heels and jumps out of the window on the fourth storey.

 

For a moment, I think I’m really going to die. Splatter all over the school grounds. But I should have known better because long before I can hit the concrete his arms are around me, picking me out of the air.

“You fucking idiot,” he cusses in my ear. “What the hell did you do that for?”

I grin. _Irony. Hell._ “I wanted to see if you would catch me.”

“I don’t really have a choice, do I?” he mutters through gritted teeth. He gently puts me down on the ground and I feel like the tension in his voice probably means I’ve pushed him enough for one day. “Stop making my life so difficult.”

“Oh, you think _you_ have problems.” I sigh and brush myself off. “Are you saying you wouldn’t catch me if you didn’t have to?”

“Not in a million years, twink boy.”

I roll my eyes, and it’s awful, but I’m getting used to the whole _twink_ thing. It doesn’t really hurt anyway. It’s just a little annoying. “I’ll go up and lock everything. You stay here.”

“Like I’d come after you like a dog,” Jeonghan shoots back.

I don’t like admitting it, even to myself, but there’s something interesting about having Jeonghan around. He’s sloppy, untidy, rude, foul-mouthed, perverted and _constantly_ on my nerves, but it’s almost homely to have him around. Something… _un-lonely_ about it. I never had a sibling for very long since my sister's twelve years older than me, and having Jeonghan shadow me is pretty much living with somebody, call a spade a spade. It’s a lot less lonely. And I didn’t even think I _was_ lonely.

By the time I’m outside, though, the feeling dissipates. Jeonghan is playing one-man hock-a-loogie in the school courtyard.

 _Nevermind_ , I think, hitching my bag up a little further on my shoulder. _He’s a filthy a-hole._

 

Six weeks pass too quickly, and it’s up until the last moment that we’re phoning around to get everything ready. The floats arrive, the fod stalls are being decorated, there are multiple security teams making sure nothing ontoward happens – although with two angels and a demon on the team it seems very unlikely – and after over a month of stress and worry that almost made me go gray-haired, I can finally relax a little.

It’s early – really early – and there are so many people buzzing around the floats that the art-club students decorated, I can barely see the wheels. All I know is that I’ve been denied access to _one_ float’s plan, and now, I find out why.

The float has been decorated like a tower of cards, all of them facing inward. On the very top sit four seats, and above _those_ four seats, an extra seat with a golden crown on the back of it. Each seat is designed for one Prefect.

“Well, Joker,” Soohyun, the President of the art club grins at me, “it’s time to go up.”

I gulp awkwardly. “It’s a good thing I don’t have a fear of heights.”

My eternal pest, the filth that clings to me, my forever-best-nemesis Jeonghan, leans in to my ear. “Hey. Be careful.”

“Hm?”

“I said, be careful. Today. This week. This festival.”

“What for?”

Jeonghan turns to me with very, very dark brown eyes. “I can feel the tension in the air shifting. The students that are coming to _this school_ … they’re not all human.”

For a moment it doesn’t sink in, because I’ve gotten _way_ too used to the fact that non-humans surround me. Because Wonwoo and DK buy me food and rub my shoulders when I need them to. But Jeonghan’s expression is hard and annoyed and upset all at once, so it does eventually come.

“…demons?”

Jeonghan nods. “…and some of them are pretty damn lethal. Demons are coming, Joshua. And when they see how pure your soul is…”

I feel dizzy, all of a sudden. Jeonghan’s pretty tame, at least around me, so I never really picked up on it before. But _demons_ are evil, pure evil, and I’ve already had a lecture on how pure my soul is. And what a soul like that would be worth to a demon.

“Demons are coming,” I repeat through unmoving lips. “Demons are coming.”

“And they’re coming _for you_.”

That’s the moment the whole world turns black.


	10. I'm In Love

“Joshua. Joshua, wake up. Joshua.”

The world comes back into focus like an old movie: there’s a spot of light somehere in the middle, and then the black gently fades out.

I’ve never seen Wonwoo so _pained_ in my whole life. The shock and worry and _fear_ in his eyes is overwhelming, and I’m only just coming too. When he sees my eyes, he lets out an audible _whoo_ and bends over me further with a more concerned look. “Joshua, there you are. Are you alright?”

I blink a moment, not sure if I can find my mouth. Then, I speak. “I’m alright.”

“Are you hurt?”

I shake my head automatically. “No. I don’t think so.”

“What happened?”

“…vertigo,” I smile weakly, although I know damn well that’s not it.

The idea of a hoard of demons coming for my ass is frightening enough – nevermind that I’m still not entirely sure why. I know I shouldn’t worry when I’ve got a demon who is _bound_ to protect me and two of my best friends are angels, but it’s still a little off-putting.

DK gently helps me up, supporting my head like I’m a newborn, and I’d complain if I didn’t feel so crap. I slowly sit up, but a stabbing pain in the chest makes me wince on the way up.

“You alright?” Wonwoo asks worriedly.

“…I’ll be fine,” I smile gently. “Uh, my bottle of water is…”

DK has it before I can even finish: I drink a little, and the stabbing pain seems to go away a little. I pull myself up off DK’s supporting hands, and glance around at the circle of students gathered. “Don’t worry guys,” I smile, raising my voice. “I just got a little dizzy, ‘cause the art club wants me to fly.”

A laugh ripples around and Wonwoo grips me around the waist to hoist me onto my feet. He holds me so close, I can feel his heartbeat through his shirt. “Hey. Are you sure you’re alright?”

I smile at him. “Don’t worry.”

He hugs me close, pressing my chin onto his shoulder. I like it when Wonwoo hugs me – he always looks so cold, but he’s very warm inside. His arms go around me and he pulls me in gently. “Don’t scare me like that,” he whispers lowly in my ear. “I was really scared, for a moment.”

I just grin and hug him close, too. “Sorry,” I whisper back. “I’m alright now.”

Usually, he lets me go pretty quickly. Today, he just squeezes me a little tighter. “Don’t go,” he whispers suddenly, a bit of desperation in his voice. “Don’t go away where I can’t find you. Okay? Don’t go where I can’t find you.”

I frown a little, stroking his hair. “Hey… what do you mean? What’s wrong?”

He shakes his head a moment. “Just… be with me forever. Okay? Don’t faint or die or go places where I can’t follow.”

I bark out a small laugh and bury my face in his neck. He smells nice, like apples and summer sunshine. “Don’t worry,” I tell him gently. “I’ll be close to you forever. After all, you’re my best friend.”

 

 _Best friend_. It’s weird, how much _grief_ such beautiful words can bring.

Yes, I’ve been his best friend for years. Joshua. My Joshua. My pure-souled, lovely, kind, happy Joshua. I’ve stood by him, protected him, helped him, made him smile and dried his tears. There’s no reason for me to ever think I could ever be more than a best friend – it’s illogical to want, illogical to hope for, but I did.

 _Best friend._ I don’t want to be his best friend. I want to kiss him. I want to hold him the way I’m holding him now. I want him to know what I feel when he smiles. I want him to hold me close, always.

In a way, I’d like to have what Jihoon and Seungcheol have. They’re inseperable, loyal, devoted to each other. On the outside they’re not very cuddly, but I think we’ve all caught a glimpse here and there of how Jihoon looks at his boyfriend. The fire there. The ultimate devotion in his eyes. There could never be any kind of doubt between them.

I want that. I want to know that Joshua is as attached to me as I am to him. I want his loyalty, his devotion – even if it’s just a fraction of what I feel for him. I want that kind of happiness.

But I’m his _best friend_ and honestly, it should be enough. I told myself that from the start. Being his best friend should be enough for me. I shouldn’t be asking for anything else. I shouldn’t be that greedy. But I am. I want to love him, I want to shout it from the rooftops. I want him to feel how much I love him, how much I need him in my life.

But I let him go, drop the hug. Because right now, I don’t have the words. I can’t say it. I can’t tell him how much he means to me.

Joshua grins at me, eyes twinkling like little stars. “You’re the best, Wonwoo.”

I smile back, and it doesn’t even hurt so much. It’s almost pathetic how happy he makes me when he says stuff like that. I’m pathetically his.

“Now, how do get me all the way up there?”

I lean in again. “I’m an angel,” I mutter, “don’t worry about falling. I’ll catch you.”

Joshua grins at me and squeezes my shoulder for a moment. “Thanks, Wonwon.”

 

With every passing moment, the Prefects get a little more antsy: during the parade, and when I come down off the _crazy_ scary float. The tour through the neighborhood was fun, sure, but my legs feel like jelly.

Jeonghan keeps a hard hand on my arm, helping me off. “Be careful,” he mutters in my ear. “There are demons present.”

Luckily, as a Prefect, I have to keep going so quickly that I barely even notice the thrall of students from Jaehwang High. Jeonghan’s got one hand on my left shoulder and DK is on my right, and together they simply push me forth to where I’m pushed in a chair and presented with pizza for lunch.

“So,” I mumble at the others through a mouthful of tomato, bread and mushrooms. “Anybody want to clue me in on the demon situation?”

Everybody seems to look at Jeonghan, who simply looks out the window. “There’s eight of them in Jaehwang. Don’t ask me why they’re there. None of them have Concordats. Three are teachers, the other five are students.”

I gulp.

“Don’t worry,” is the first thing DK says. “They won’t hurt you.”

“Not as long as I’m around, no, they can’t even touch you unless they’re invited to.” Jeonghan slides his gaze back to me. “This is going to be one hell of a week. Thanks, twink.”

“Not my fault,” I sing at him.

Wonwoo moves to rub my shoulders. “You’ll be alright, as long as you stay with one of us. We promise not to let you get hurt.”

“Why would they want to hurt me, anyway?”

Jihoon gives me a funny look. “They’re _demons_.”

I point my next slice of pizza at Jeonghan indicitavely.

“He doesn’t have a choice,” Wonwoo mutters, a little upset. “Besides, the point is that you have a pure soul. If a demon gets his hands on your soul… well, a pure soul is a very powerful thing to hold. They could easily become one of the strongest, most-respected demons ever.”

I frown. “How does a soul do that?”

Everybody seems to look at Jeonghan again, who is very pointedly not looking at anybody. “…a soul can be used in the Underworld in two ways,” he says lowly. “A weak soul, the more impure a soul is, the more likely it’s to be used as currency to pay off debts. A stronger soul… can be ingested by a demon to make them stronger.”

Wonwoo leaves very promptly to go throw up in a trashcan, and DK soon follows.

“That,” Wonwoo mutters, pulling his head up, “is the most _disgusting_ thing I’ve ever heard.”

Jeonghan bares his teeth a little. “What are you going to do about it, halo-boy?”

“Stop it, both of you,” I demand, glaring. “I’m sorry my question upset you guys. Really. Drink some water, okay?”

“We’re fine,” DK spits, pulling up. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

I bridle for a moment. “Well I’m about to ask another question you might not like. Jeonghan… how would a demon… get his mittens on my _soul_?”

Jeonghan stares at me for a long moment with a hard kind of scowl on his face. “Either by killing you, or by you saying out loud that they are allowed to take your soul.”

“That’ll never happen, Joshua.” Seungcheol slides me another slice of pizza. “Just be careful who you say what to.”

“I’ll have to put you under an enchantment.”

“We’ll do the enchantments here.” Wonwoo glares at Jeonghan like if he tried hard enough, lasers might come out of his eyes like a 90’s-era Superman movie and burn right through Jeonghan. “What kind of enchantment does he need?”

Jeonghan sighs, folding his arms. “Fine. One against demon magic, so he can’t be hypnotized into saying it. Think you can handle that?”

DK gives my demon a look of pure disdain, and I feel bad for both sides. I feel like I should lighten up on Jeonghan sometimes – he gets _so much crap_ from the other Prefects, sometimes it’s hard not to feel a little sorry for him. On the other hand, he does kind of ask for it.

“You guys fight too much,” I tell them. “I _have_ to go over the grounds once to make sure everything is running smoothly. Do I have volunteers for a personal security team? Going once, going twice?”

Jeonghan holds up his hand lazily, like he hates doing it.

“I think we’ll _all_ go,” Wonwoo snaps. “Let’s go.”

 

It’s more heart-warming than I thought it would be, walking amongst the stalls that the students are setting up. They’ve got everything from French fries to donuts to hand-made chocolates to foreign foods to plain ole kimbap. It’s delightful, and every stall I go by, somebody calls out and waves.

I guess we look like quite a sight: the Prefect Five featuring Jeonghan. I walk at point, like geese flying South. We probably look like something from a K-drama.

“Hey!”

“Whoa there, kid!” I laugh, stopping Nayoung from half-way falling out of her stall when she waves. “Be careful. How are you doing?”

She blushes a bit.

It’s no secret Nayoung has a crush on Wonwoo. She’s terrible at keeping secrets.

“So, what are we making here?”

The girl brightens happily. “Fried rice!”

“How does fried rice sound, guys?” The Prefects are full and Jeonghan isn’t even listening to me, so I hand over a few bills. “Just one for me then I guess, thanks Nayoung!”

The girl just keeps on blushing as she makes up a portion of fried rice and hands it to me in a little cardboard take-out box. “Here you go, Joshua!”

“Hold tight in there, okay?” I walk backwards a little to wave at the sweet girl, which is always a bad idea.

I trip over something on the ground, and go flying backwards: long before I can hit the ground, a thick torso halts my fall and an arm holds my shoulder, another going out to catch my box of rice.

I look up. He’s upside-down, but then I turn around, and he’s no worse looking.

He’s absolutely _gorgeous_. He’s got messy, tousled mid-brown hair that’s combed up off his forehead, and the sharpest, clearest eyes I’ve ever seen. He’s got sharp features over all: cheekbones jutting out handsomely, and a jawline I’d be scared to cut myself on. He has sweetly shapred lips, with the middle of his upper lip overshadowing his lower ever so slightly. I can’t stop staring for a moment.

“Watch where you’re going,” he says, and his voice is literally like silk, sliding so smoothly. His lips curl up into a sweet, sweet smile. “You could hurt yourself.”

I can’t help but notice his arm is still around my waist from where he caught me, and I don’t mind a bit. “Uh,” I say eloquently. “I’m sorry!”

“That’s alright,” he smiles, letting the curl of his lips reach his eyes. “If you’re that cute, you get to be a little clumsy.”

What do you even say to that?

“Hi. Wen Junhui, but my friends call me Jun.”

 _Jun_. What a sweet name. It takes me a moment. “Oh! Oh, I’m, I, uh… J-Jo… Joker!”

He frowns very lightly, feathery eyebrows overshadowing his pretty, light eyes. “Joker? Are you… making fun of me?”

“No! No, no?!” It takes me a moment to rip myself away from his beautiful sharp eyes to get my act together. “No, sorry, I’m… I’m Joshua. I’m the Joker Prefect here at Deck High.” The statement is followed by a little gulp I hope he doesn’t see or hear.

Jun smiles warmly, arm around my waist tightening slightly. “Hello, Joshua.”

“…hi,” I smile back lightly.

For a moment he leans in a little, and some bizarre part of me wonders if he’s going to kiss me. A bizarre part of me really _wants_ him to.

“If you’ll excuse us,” a hard voice intervenes, putting a hand on my shoulder. “We need to be getting along.”

“Of course, of course!” Jun lets my waist go gently, and I stumble back a little, face going bright red. “Be careful, _Joshua_ ,” he smiles, his voice a little lower and a little smoother. “Don’t fall over again if I’m not there to save you.”

“Y-yeah,” I tell him as somebody grips my shoulders and marches me on. “B-bye…”

I’m a few feet on and I can’t crane my neck anymore when I manage to really pick myself up again, shrugging the hands on my shoulders off. “DK!” I whine at him. “What are you doing? Couldn’t you see I was having a _moment_ with a tall, dark, handsome stranger? Why did you have to break me up like that?”

DK’s face is growling and stern as he hisses. “That was a _demon_!” he spits.

“A demon?” The word really doesn’t sound so ominous as I try to tip-toe so I can see Jun again. “But he’s so pretty…”

Jeonghan pulls me along by the wrist. “How about we go about getting you your enchantment?”

 

The speeches from both principals are fairy long-winded: after this, all participating members of staff – and of course, the Prefects – go to sahek each other’s hand.

I get to the end of the line of teachers’ faces from Jaehwang High, not really registering them, until a voice catches me off-guard.

“Well, look at who we have here.”

I trip _again_ over what I can only presume is somebody’s shoe, and almost go flying off the podium into the crowd of students, who have all been seated and well-behaved through the entire ordeal. One strong arm around my waist catches me.

Jun rights me on the stage and lets me go with a smile. “Well, it’s good to know you didn’t trip when I _wasn’t_ there to save you. Are you always this clutzy?”

“Uh, no?” I make it a question before looking down the line of teachers, very confused. “Wait. You’re…”

Jun smiles a brilliantly winning smile. “I teach Chinese as an elective at Jaehwang. Nice to meet you, Joker Prefect.” He takes my hand and shakes it once, very obviously.

Oh, _God have mercy on my soul_ , I’m in love.


	11. Steal Me

“It’s a _gala,_ ” I practically yell. “Of _course_ you have be dressed up! If you can’t manage a tuxedo then at _least_ manage something in the way of a dark or black suit!”

“But it’s so _stuffy_!” he whines.

I take a deep breath, digging deep within myself to find the last shred of patience. I, for one, am dressed in a tuxedo with bowtie, and I look very debonair in it. DK said so. I honestly don’t understand what Jeonghan’s problem with dressing well is, but he arrives out of the men’s bathroom in a plain black suit and I’m mollified.

“There,” I smile brightly. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“I hate you, and everything about you,” he fires back.

“Wow, what an utterly heart-breaking revelation,” I deadpan. “I had no idea. I’m so hurt. Shocker. Are you done griping?”

He gives me a sarcastic look, instead of a death glare, and I think I may have finally broken him in now. “Are we going, or what?”

I roll my eyes and simply lead the way downstairs, to where music is alread pumping out of huge speakers I managed to cinch. The Prefects are all waiting by the doors, in similar tuxedoes to mine.

“You look good,” Wonwoo says measuredly.

“Gotta keep up appearances,” I grin. “Thanks, Wonwon.”

“Come on, Prince Charming,” DK laughs, taking my hands. “I want to dance with you!”

 

I wasn’t looking for him, but he is there all of a sudden, watching me from the sideline. He’s got his arms crossed and he’s staying out of the path of the strobe lights, so I can’t really tell what he’s wearing. All I know is that he has a very defined brow and beautiful eyes, and they’re on _me_.

I’m not even really thinking about what I’m doing: I wire my way through the mass of dancing bodies until suddenly I’m off the mad dance floor, the boys in tuxes and girls in floor-length dresses, and I’m standing in front of him.

Plain black suit. Arms crossed.

“You’re staring at me,” I tell him over the sound of the music.

His expression lightens a little; his eyes twinkle a little with mischief. “I’m just making sure you don’t fall over again.”

I pout at that. I don’t want him thinking I’m some sort of ditz or something. “I’m not usually like that.”

“Oh?”

“I was on the top of a float this morning. Call it belated vertigo.”

“Suuuure,” he grins. “If you say so.”

I fold my arms to match him. “Weren’t you the one who said it was cute?”

He doesn’t answer: he just smiles more.

“Don’t tease cute people,” I warn.

“Or what?”

I pause. “Or they won’t be so cute anymore.”

He breaks out into a laugh, and even his _laugh_ is handsome. He drops his arms and sticks one hand in his pocket. “You make it sound like a threat,” he taunts.

“Maybe that’s how I mean it to sound.” There’s a tall, small round table in between us: I rest my arms on it, leaning in.

He does the same, leaning forward until we’re very close to each other. “What if I don’t feel so threatened?” he smirks. “Maybe I’d like to see you be a little less cute.”

I can _feel_ my cheeks heating up, but I’m hoping it’s dark enough for nobody to notice. “Oh yeah? And what should I be, instead? To make up for the missing cuteness?”

He pretends to think about it, tapping his finger against his lips as he looks up. When his eyes dart back down to me, they’re hot-loaded with mischief. “You could try being sexy.”

Now I’m _definitely_ red all over, to the tips of my ears. And I’m desperately thinking what I can possibly say to that, and not stutter at the same time. A few seconds pass, and he laughs.

“I’m just teasing, Joshua. You can be as cute as you want. Don’t worry, I’ll still catch you if you fall.”

“How kind of you,” I answer, embarrassed.

He looks out over the dance floor than looks back at me. “Want to go get a breather?”

I nod, and he takes me by the wrist to lead me out the back door: we step out into the front courtyard and he pulls me over to the wall that looks out over a little man-made pond between the school and the road. He lets me go to rustle in his inner pocket, and held up a cardboard box. “Do you mind?”

I bridle a moment. “Smoking is bad for you,” I tell him. “Cigarettes can kill you.”

He smirks, pulling one out. “I think I’ll be alright.”

I wince, remembering the pain in my chest this morning. “If you’re going to smoke, mind doing it down-wind? Second-hand smoke is still gonna mess me up.”

He smiles a moment and walks around me to stand on my left side. “Better?”

A strong breeze comes from the right and I smile. “Much, thank you.”

He chuckles, pulling a lighter out of his pocket. “You’re very pure.”

I tilt my head a little. Jeonghan smokes too, sometimes, out on my balconey at night when he thinks I’m asleep, but he never does that. “Hey, why do you use that?”

He stops, thumb coming off the lighter. “What?”

I hold my hand out, and he willingly gives the small rectangle over: I study the metal curiously before glancing up at him. He’s looking at me like I’m crazy, and I can feel myself blush even more. “Uh, can’t you just…?” I snap my fingers and raise an eyebrow to indicate what I meant.

He lets out a surprised laugh, and it makes the sharp crease of his eye more defined. He’s got nice teeth, too. The canines are slightly long, a little disproportionate, but not much. The sound of his laugh is nice, too – surprised, but not unhappy. He simply fades the laugh out, shakes his head, puts the cigarette between his lips again and snaps his fingers.

There it is. A pretty little blue flame on his forefinger. He uses it to light the end of the cigarette and then it’s gone again. He gives it a few puffs and exhales slowly, drawing the smoke out. He holds the little white bar between his fingers as he grins at me, leaning over the wall a little. “You’re full of surprises.”

I turn and jump up so I’m sitting on the wall and facing him. Also, just so that he doesn’t seem so tall anymore. “Me? Always.”

He gives me a prolonged look over several draws on the cigarette: I keep my eyes fixed on the windows, so I can still see the party going on inside.

“How did you know?” he asks, just before putting the roll between his lips again.

I pause. Should I tell him? Should I not tell him? “…I’ve got a Concordat with a demon.”

He drops the cigarette from his mouth, but catches it with his hand, butt-side down. “ _You’re_ Jeonghan’s Concordat?!” he says slowly.

I turn to him. “You know Jeonghan?”

“First demon to have a Concordat in a hundred years,” he admitted, picking the cigarette up again. “We all know him. I’ve played poker with him a few times.”

“You play poker?”

“Bet big or go home,” Jun grins. He draws on the cigarette and lets out a puff of smoke audibly, hurrying to have his mouth to himself again. “When he got a Concordat it was the talk of the Underworld.” Jun lets his eyes appraise me from my head down to my shoes and back up. “So you’re the pure soul that saved his life.”

I held my shoulders up once. “So he tells me.”

Jun chuckles to himself a little. He finishes the first cig, and fishes out another. I gently place the lighter on the wall in case he wants to use it again, but he forgoes it in lieu of his finger.

“Ain’t that something.” He looks me up and down again. “Although, I’m not that surprised. You sure are a pure little thing.”

I make a face. “I’m not that little.”

“You’re skinny.”

I purse my lips and sigh heavily. “Yeah.” I can’t hide the sourness in my voice. “That’s what Jeonghan tells me, too.”

Jun turns a little to me, just holding his weapon of choice. “You don’t like him?”

“ _Like_ him? I can barely eat a meal in the same room as him.”

Jun looks up at the dark sky to think about it, before holding up his cigarette. “This really bothers you?”

I cough twice into my first. Not because I have to – they’re two very polite little coughs – but it’s just to get the message across.

Jun grins, and I an’t help but think he looks a little wolfish when he does so. The look on his face is too wild, too sharp for anything else. He drives the butt of the half-smoked cigarette into the wall cement and then flicks it back over his shoulder without looking.

It lands in a courtyard trashcan.

I raise an eyebrow. “An environment-conscious demon?”

Jun plays with his lighter in lieu of the cig. “I guessed a pure soul like you wouldn’t be very interested in me polluting your _precious_ school.”

“Guessed right,” I smiled. “You’re very interested in what I approve of.”

He turns to me, leaning one elbow on the wall. “I am, aren’t I? What do you think that implies?”

I think about it, looking upwards before turning back to glance at him. “Well, maybe you want to stay on my good side. Since I kind of control this school.”

He sidles closer, slowly. “I want to stay on your good side?”

“M-hm.”

“Your precious new bodyguard didn’t mention anything else I might want from you?”

I think about it. “You haven’t tried to snatch my soul yet. I’m still alive, aren’t I?”

Jun barks a laugh out, spinning the lighter between his fingers. It reflects a little moonlight on each rotation. “He told you I wanted your soul, huh. That’s funny. I don’t need your soul, Joshua, don’t worry about me.”

I raise one eyebrow. “You don’t want it?”

He suddenly looks up with a wilder look in his eyes and a grin curled on his face. “I didn’t say that.”

I blink, thinking about what that’s supposed to mean. I stare at the window again, trying to figure it out.

Suddenly, Jun pulls a hand up and pulls my chin down slightly. “What are you thinking about?” he asks quietly.

“…you, actually.”

“Me? Really? You like me that much?”

I push his hand away with a smile. “Please, shut up. Are all you demons this arrogant?”

“You like me,” he states confidently. “Ah, how worrisome. A high school student likes me. This puts me in a terrible position, Joshua.”

My ears are burning at the tips, but I reckon I can change the subject. “I can’t be that much younger than you.”

Jun chuckles. “I was twenty when I became a demon.”

“Three years,” I confirm, jumping off the wall to stretch my legs. “Not so bad.”

Jun laughs and snaps his fingers: suddenly he’s holding a glass of red wine in it. He swirls it in his palm and takes a sip. “You’re adorable like this.”

“So if you’re not here for my soul, what are you here for?”

Jun shrugs. “A bunch of demons were enrolling in Jaehwang. The big guy sent me in to keep tabs on them. Coming _here_ is a coincidence.”

“I see.”

“Honest.” He holds up his palms at me. “I’m not here on a mission to steal your soul.”

I sense something else in his tone, so I turn further to him. “But?”

He smirks a little and bends slightly so he can lean in very close to my face. “I might just steal you, instead.” Then he ducks forward, and presses his lips against mine roughly.

At first I just think, _so soft._

Then, before I even know it, there’s a slapping sound in the air and my palm stings. Jun just stares at me in total shock.

“F-filthy de-demon!” is all I can stutter before I make a beeline for the door and slide back into the dark throng of the gala.


	12. Terrified

“Hey.” Somebody grabs my hand, but I shrug it off. “Hey!”

“Leave me alone,” I yell, storming through the dance. I manage to make it all the way to the other side of the room, heading towards the door to the rest of the school building, before he catches up with me.

“Hey!” he yells, gripping my shoulder. I’d stop, but I’m already walking with so much force and rage that I just pull him through the doorway with me. When it swings shut, the music is dulled, and Jeonghan pulls me back. “Where the hell were you?! I was looking all over for you!”

“Just leave me alone!” I spit back, trying to move away again.

He glares at me, his eyes somehow seeming darker. He grips me again, pulling me back, leaning in. He suddenly sniffs really loudly and balks. “Why does your face smell of sulpher?!”

I throw his hand off myself and head for the front door, fully intent on going home. I know there’s no real point, since he _has_ to come with me, but I just want him to get the point and shut up. Unfortunately, I’m not so lucky.

Jeonghan jogs right up after me. “You were with _him_ , weren’t you?!” he asks, appalled.

“Who,” I mutter, taciturn.

“That demon!”

“His name is Jun.” I can’t help the edge in my voice. I’m shaken. My nerves are frazzled. Too much has happened in one day and I’m exhaused and anxious. I just want to get _out_ of here.

“So you were with him!” Jeonghan’s voice is just grating on my raw nerves. “What were you _doing_ that makes you smell so bad?!”

I turn on him in the same marching stampede I’m walking in: Jeonghan starts walking backwards, surprised. “Listen, you miserable ball of _filth_ ,” I hiss at him. “I am tired, I am hungry, I am cold and I’m sore. I’ve been up since five AM, I’ve worked my ass off, I’ve collapsed, organized, and danced the whole night with a smile on my face _and_ I’ve been molested, so what I really _don’t_ need right now is your pathetic ass trailing after me rubbing shit in my face! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!”

Jeonghan stays in one position, eyes blown wide, staring at me.

So I simply take advantage of the situation and stomp all the way home.

Jeonghan perches himself on the balconey quietly, allowing me to do my night-time routine in peace, very quietly slinking back in when I’m in bed.

“…are you hurt?” he asks quietly in the darkness.

“…no.” My voice sounds weird. A little too soft. A little too vulnerable.

“…sorry.” Jeonghan’s body moves up to his regular place on the ceiling, but I don’t see any red orbs. He must be closing his eyes. “I should have been there.”

I shake my head slowly. “I didn’t want you there in the first place, or I would have pulled you along.”

“…I’m not supposed to leave your side, whether you want me to or not.” His voice is kind of soothing in the dark, now that I’m winding down. “Don’t associate with demons.”

I manage to crack a little smile, eyes slowly closing. “Present company excluded?”

“I don’t think you should associate with me either.” I can hear a smile in his voice. “But it’s unavoidable. Seriously. That guy will suck your soul out of your body without a second thought. You got lucky today. Please don’t do that again.”

I think about Jun. Twenty years old, very alluring, and unable to use any _demonic_ powers on me. I think about his face coming closer and closer, about his lips touching mine, and instead of filling up with fear I can feel my heart pounding for another reason entirely.

“Are you scared?”

I’ve long become used to the fact that Jeonghan has superhuman hearing, and could hear my heart accelerate from across a crowded room. “…yes,” I whisper, rolling over in bed. “I’m terrified, because… I’m not scared of Jun.”

The words hang in the air for a moment, settling.

“…goodnight, Jeonghan.” I frown a little, because it sounds weird, and then I realize it’s because we’ve been together almost two months and I’ve never told him _goodnight_ before. Such a harmless, meaningless human phrase. I never once thought to tell my eternal, personal plague that. But tonight… I feel all kinds of weird. Maybe I’m high on demon fumes, anyway. I sigh heavily, and do my best to let the night take me.

 

“I’m terrified, because… I’m not scared of Jun.”

I want to respond to that, but God, what do you say to somebody that _stupid_? I guess I’ve been pretty alright lately – after all, the idea is settling in that he’s for the next seventy years and I might as well try and get along at least – so maybe Joshua doesn’t entirely understand _why_ demons are bad news for him.

And for me. Because I don’t feel like having a trip to purgatory ‘cause I let my Concordat get his innards sucked by some lowlife demon who cheats at poker better than I do.

“…goodnight, Jeonghan.”

It takes a while but eventually Joshua’s heartrate slows down and his breathing gets heavy. When I’m sure he’s asleep, I crawl towards the balcony, but I don’t have to wait for long.

Wonwoo and DK drop down on either side of me, but I’m already turning. “You two. Can you take care of him for one night?”

“Where are you going?”

I pull my heels up onto the balcony railing. “I’m going to find Jun.” And with that, I unfurl my wings and let them catch on the breeze as I push off into the night air.

Every demon has their own particularly foul scent of sulpher clinging to them, and I’ve gotten more than a sniff of Jun’s, so it’s not too difficult to find it in the breeze.

He’s sitting in a room with three others – two male, one female. I make a lovely crash through his window, and interrupt what is apparently a _very_ important poker game, because none of them even flinch.

“If you’re here about the Prefect,” Jun mutters, throwing a chip twards the middle of the table. “It’ll have to wait till the end of this round.”

Jun’s actually a little bigger than I remember him being. It’s in the thickness of the horns atop his head. He’s also got a _very_ dark red mark on his cheek that I don’t really want to know about. So I stand there, in the middle of the room, and wait for him to rake in the chips.

“Now?” I hiss, impatient.

“Oh! You’re still here.” Jun surveys me a moment. “Yeah, yeah I suppose so. You guys can play a round without me, right?” The creature makes a gesture at me, pulling me to the other side of his apartment to stand out on the balcony. He pulls out a pack and offers me one.

I take another slightly hesitant look at his horns. They’re only about as tall as mine, but just a _little_ thicker. Maybe I shouldn’t do too much to antagonize him. I accept the cigarette.

“So, how’s the little skeleton in skin doing?” Jun smirks, puffing the smoke away.

I raise one eyebrow a moment, leaning over the railing like he does. “He’s not doing so well right now,” I answer lightly, taking a few drags.

There’s just something about smoking that makes it feel like hell on earth, pun intended.

“No?”

“Says you molested him.”

Jun barks out a laugh at that – it looks gross on his sharp features. “Molested him! Aw, how sweet. How quaint!”

I roll my eyes: this guy really enjoys trying my patience. “What did you do, Jun?”

He shrugs. “Just kissed him is all.”

“Kissed him?!” I repeat. “You could have seriously hurt him!”

“Oh, it was just a little peck on the lips,” Jun huffs, waving his hand like he can wave the entire matter away. “Tell him not to be so uptight next time and let himself feel pleasure for once. It might do him some good, and maybe the cane lodged up his tight ass would loosen a little.”

I’m desperately trying not to make faces at this asshole. Not because I’m offended for Joshua, but more just that he’s right and I still have to live with the twink.

“Listen, just keep your fucking distance from him, alright?” I breathe in the smoke with an ounce of happiness. “Safeguarding him is a lot more difficult when you’re circling him like a vulture licking its lips.”

“Vultures don’t have lips,” Jun says.

“And demons don’t have nowhere to but purgatory, so watch your mouth,” I growl out between gritted teeth.

Jun turns at me and laughs – he’s so carefree and _not_ tense that it annoys me, and just makes me more tense than I was. “You’re very amusing, Jeonghan. You really became his little bitch after that Concordat, huh?”

I take a deep breath. I can’t get angry here now. I’ll clobber him some other time.

“Anyway, don’t worry about me. I won’t hurt him.”

“Oh you won’t?” I ask, full of sarcasm.

Jun holds his cigarette out, relaxed. “Nope. Maybe another kiss, though.”

“Listen,” I spit, “I have to bang him before he graduates, or I get a couple of angels kicking my ass all the way to purgatory. If I manage to take his virginity before then, I get this Concordat _cancelled out_ and you wouldn’t _believe_ how ready I am for that, so until graduation you’re steering clear of the little twink, got it?!”

Jun turns to me, still relaxed, but intrigued. “You made a deal with some angels?”

I take a deep breath. Okay, telling him was a mistake. Me and my big mouth.

“You _actually_ gambled with angels. That is something else. Well, I have to give it to you.” He taps his cigarette casually. “You sure do things very dramatically.”

“All I’m saying is, don’t get him all confused about he’s supposed to fall for. And don’t kill him! You can kill him when I get rid of this damn Concordat.”

Jun rolls his eyes a little and looks away. “Whatever.”

“I mean it,” I mutter. “His soul isn’t yours to take. Not yet.”

“Who says I want his soul?”

“What other _possible_ reason could you have?”

We stare at each other for a while.

It’s _really_ starting to grate on me how easy he’s feeling. He’s not defensive or tense or anything. It’s as if he’s having a casual conversation with his best friend about coffee prices or something. All my life, I’ve never seen a demon so at ease with another demon. Especially one that’s being as hostile as I am. I know the pretty face is deceiving, but even a demon should know better.

Jun sizes me up for a while, starting up another cigarette.

“Let’s say I’m not in it for his soul,” Jun mutters, lighting the cig. “You’re an intelligent person. I’m sure you can figure it out.”

“General mischief, mishap and sin?” I fold my arms, unimpressed.

“A little more specific,” he smiles.

I close my eyes when it hits me, sighing. “It can’t be. It can’t be that simple. That’s stupid! Even I know that’s stupid!”

Jun just grins, tapping his cig.

“You want to seduce him into your bed so that you can _spoil_ a pure soul?”

Jun points the cigarette at me. “Nothing different than what you’re doing, is it?”

“You think for even a second that if I didn’t have a Concordat with the little twerp that I wouldn’t ingest his soul _raw_ , then you’re _crazy_. What a waste!”

“You’re the one safeguarding him, aren’t you?” Jun straightens his back and flicks the second stub to the ground. “Well, it doesn’t really matter anyway. I’m telling you I’m not interested in his soul. I’m sure I’ll pick a soul up that’s just as pure.”

I give him another look of disbelief. “Yeah, sure you are, where are you going to find a pure soul in this day and age?”

Jun chuckles annoyingly. “I’m sure I’ll manage to get one somewhere.” He looks straight up at the sky: I don’t know why, since there aren’t any stars visible. It’s all cloudy overcast, and we can expect rain any time now. “And then, you’d better watch how you speak to me.”

I roll my eyes. This guy’s more arrogant than I am, and I’m pretty damn full of myself. Like, it’s alright – I’ve got a lot to be full of, from my amazingly good looks to be astounding wit – but Jun takes the cake. Standing here on his own balcony with a black fur coat on that makes his mass look five times the size he is.

“Anyway, I think that little Prefect can handle himself well enough.” He points to the bloody red mark on his cheek. “I guess when a pure soul slaps a demon, it burns into him like hell. No pun intended.”

Okay, now I can’t stop the grin on my face. “He slapped you?”

“Yup.”

“Hah! Guess he has a pair of balls on him anyway.” I smirk at Jun. “Bet it stings like a bitch.”

“Why don’t you get slapped and find out,” he fires back sourly.

“Aw, don’t be put out,” I laugh, sitting on his balcony. “Maybe you’ll get lucky and he’ll slap you on the other side so it matches.” And with another slightly maniacal little laugh, I throw myself off the balcony and unfurl my wings to catch the breeze and float me back away.

 

I finish a third cigarette before going back inside. “Alright,” I tell them. “Which one of you wants to get sacked in another poker game by yours truly?”

Minhyun looks at me when I sit down. “Jun… do you _really_ plan on not taking that boy’s soul?”

I look at him, and snort, letting it naturally follow into a laugh. “You’re kidding, right?” I smirk. “That soul is _mine_. I’ll be the most powerful demon that ever walked the earth.”


	13. Run Over Your Ass (With a Maserati)

“Hello? This is Hong Joshua.” He twirls the pen in his hand. “I would like to make an appointment with the doctor, please.”

I look at him sideways. Doctor?

I’m not supposed to be surveying his physical condition without his permission, kind of like the same way I’m not supposed to be taking sneak peeks at his soul. So I don’t take a peek to see what’s wrong. I just give him a worried look.

“No, I’m afraid I won’t be able to come until next week… Wednesday… yes, that would be fine, actually. Yes, please. Yes. Thank you very much!”

I wait until he sees my expression.

“Don’t worry,” he smiles, waving his hand. “Touch of asthma coming back and my meds are out of date, I just need to get new ones.”

I frown harder. “If you just need the same meds again, the nurse is allowed to-”

“How do I look?”

I look him up and down, and something flutters in my stomach. _God, he’s beautiful,_ I think. _God, please never take this man away from me. Please let me stay with him. He’s the most beautiful thing in my world._

Okay, maybe it’s a little selfish to be thinking this way when Joshua’s just donning speedos and little else, but come on. I’m an angel, but I still _own_ a teenaged boy’s body, and testosterone still rages through my veins. He does look beautiful though – he has such pretty bronzed skin, such a _lean_ body even though I know how strong he is. I just want to hold him in my arms and make him laugh. Make him happy. Make him smile.

“DK?”

I blink, twice. “You need your cap and goggles.”

“Right, thanks.” He turns and I have to turn away too.

I shouldn’t be looking at his ass, but I do peek back. I’ve seen Joshua’s tushy before. It’s not bad. In fact, it’s straight up gorgeous. So round and plump and… I need to stop before I start sinning, here.

I walk him out to where the rest of the swim team is. I know he’s self-conscious of the large mark on his back, and even I don’t know why it’s there, but I’m still kind of happy he asked me to escort him out.

He really is marvellous. Joshua’s body is a beautiful, strong thing. And it sounds sappy perhaps, but I’m always glad he has a strong body. I’d be miserable if he was sickly.

I watch as he makes jokes with the rest of the swim team, putting his goggles around his neck lightly. His smile is so bright. Carefree. And part of me hopes I can keep him like this forever: light and happy and glowing. Because as long as Joshua is smiling, I can rest easy. As long as he’s laughing, as long as he gets that twinkle in his eye, I’ll be alright. His happiness is the most important thing.

 

Joshua is part of the swim team, is participating as the fencing captain _and_ as an offensive player for the soccer, so he’s got a busier day than usual. Which means _I’ve_ got a busy day, ‘cause I’m not supposed to let him get hurt.

It’s easy enough during the swim relay, when he’s got half a swimming pool to himself and it’s not like water’s gonna hurt him. He seems to have difficulty when he’s out of the pool, but I don’t really watch too closely. After all, save _drowning_ , it’s not like he’s gonna get anything worse than a few cramps.

But I have to admit, watching him grip a _fencing sword_ in his hand gives me a little flutter, ‘cause I don’t want to be the demon responsible for him becoming a Joshua shish-kebab.

He looks at me and grins, lunging for me. It’s not like it would hurt me anyway, so I don’t move, but the blade just bulges when it hits my gut.

“It’s not sharp,” he smiles. “I won’t get hurt.”

I purse my lips. “Well you know if you turn into a barbecue spit it’s my ass on the flames of purgatory, so just make sure you don’t get hurt.”

Joshua rolls his eyes. “You ruin everything, don’t you?”

I scowl at him. “That’s not fair, I just need your dumb ass to survive.”

“Quit your worrying.” He pulls down his visor. “I’ll be fine. I’ve been fencing since I was five.”

To be honest, it’s not fencing I’m worried about, especially since the swords are kind of blunt. After all, what’s he gonna do, sprain an ankle? Okay, I’d be pissed, but it’s not like there’s gonna be blood in the air, right? Right.

I’m worried about tonight’s soccer match. I’ve seen Jaehwang’s soccer team. They’re _buff_. Like, their goalie is twice the size of Joshua in width. He’s like a walk-in closet. And Joshua is tiny. He’s just a little toothpick with shoes and a gumball on top. If anything goes wrong on that football field, he’s going to get his little body crushed. He’ll be a pile of ashes.

“He came.”

I turn to where Joshua is staring: Jun is casually escorting his demon ass into the front row of seats.

“God, what happened to him?”

I raise my eyebrows once. “Well, the rumor going around is that a guy with a pure soul bitch-smacked his ugly mug. That stuff tends to sting.”

Joshua drops the gloves he’s trying to put on. “ _I_ did that?”

“He’s a demon, you’re pure, it happens.” I retrieve his gloves for him. “He was there for swimming, too, except you didn’t see him.”

“He saw me half-naked?” Automatically, the twink puts an arm across his body.

I give him a look. “The whole school saw you half-naked, you idiot.”

The bell rings and Joshua doesn’t have time for a snappy retort like normal: he just puts his gloves on and gets into the ring.

I guess I kind of understand what all this means to Joshua. He’s trying to preserve his way of life. I guess most demons do that too. So far, the _enemy_ as Wonwoo calls them have won the Volleyball and the Basketball, so it’s two-all, and there’s still fencing and soccer to go.

Joshua is captain of the fencing squad, and I understand why. He’s tiny, lithe and bendy with long extremities.

They get half-way through a round when a time-out is called and Joshua pulls the visor off to take a drink of water.

“You suck,” I comment, squatting by him. “You were on the retreat and defense most of the time.”

“Shut up,” Joshua mutters, wiping sweat. “He’s built like a wall. He’s so strong it’s hard to just keep the damn sword up.”

I look around the room, trying not to blow up at him for being a twink. I catch a glimpse of brwn hair in the crowd. “Hey. Just remember your pretty boy is watching. You don’t want to disappoint him with a bad show, do ya?”

Joshua glares at me angrily, but then he turns to the audience with a almost worriedlook on his face, and I can’t believe it actually worked.

I also can’t believe this twerp is stupid enough to believe that he and Jun are going to be a thing.

But Joshua gets up and gets back in formation, and within a couple of minutes he’s won the game, so I guess I helped out. Kind of. Which is weird, considering _demons_ made him faint yesterday but improve his shape today.

Whatever.

I guess it isn’t a _terrible_ gig, all-in-all. Watch the smoosh during high school, and then after that I can probably lie low. Mooch around at his college. Work will be different, but I’ll figure that out when I get there. When he gets married I’ll have less of a job to do. It’s not like I’m a toddler’s nanny or anything.

I follow him through to where all kinds of crap food are being served as dinner for the athletes and spectators, and then make myself scarce to hang out on the second floor, a balcony area of the cafeteria looking out over the others.

“…hey.”

I flinch a little. “What do _you_ want?”

He doesn’t even wince: he walks up, cool as a cucumber, and sits his merry ass down in a chair opposite me. “Thought I’d find you up here. You’ve got a thing for heights.”

“Helps the eyesight.”

I stare at him for a while. Witches always freak me the _fuck_ out, because humans aren’t supposed to be down with the Underworld _or_ with angels, and certainly not both. Humans aren’t supposed to be in touch with the occult, and anybody who makes it that way is fucking _weird_. Also, we tend not to socialize with them, since they can sometimes come with a number of worrisome side-effects. For instance, sudden, gross, bloody death, mysterious murder, and sometimes they turn invisible, too.

It’s just _wrong_.

He gives me a look before leaning back in his chair. “…DK blabbed.”

I blink. “About the bet?”

He nods. “You’re doing a foolish thing.”

“Hm?”

“You’re getting your ass sent to purgatory.” He rocks a little in his chair, looking over the railing at where the other Prefects are hanging out together. “He’s know DK since they were kids, and the dumbass has made it his life’s work to ensure Joshua’s happiness. Wonwoo’s sincerity towards him is unbending, unwavering and entirely loyal. And you think some demon punk with a concordat and a pretty face is going to win Joshua’s _virginity_ with those two looking out for him? You better step up your game, because you’re not even trying.”

I fold my arms. “I’m pretty confident. I can be persuasive.”

Jihoon sighs a little, and I’m hit with a new thought.

“Hey. You’re a witch, right?”

He nods infinitismally.

“Can’t you do something about this concordat?”

Jihoon’s a pretty solid guy, I’ve noticed. His facial expression never changes – well, maybe from _death lives with me_ to _I hate everything_ after a few cups of coffee.

He looks up at me with the utmost, ultimate _fear_ of God’s wrath in his eyes. It’s written over his entire face that this is the most _terrifying_ thing I could have suggested. His mouth is agape and his eyes wide. He slides his chair back a little, arms moving in front of his body. For a moment, he can’t even speak.

“What the _fuck_?!” he finally whispers in horror.

I lean over the table. “Listen, kid, I didn’t ask to get my life saved by some twinkie-ass pure soul that put a concordat on my ass. I just want it gone so Joshua and I can go our separate ways.”

“Do you know what happens to witches who try that shit?” Jihoon hisses back. “My ass would be _poof,_ gone! In a puff of smoke, the blink of an eye! I don’t want to find out whether my soul goes up or down until I’m at least eighty.”

“Please? Do you _know_ how to-”

I don’t get to finish my desperate plea: the young man gets out of his seat and runs, _literally runs_ to the stairs. As if just _talking_ about it is going to get him into trouble.

 

“Hey.”

Joshua’s just adjusting his shoe laces. “What, Jeonghan?” He’s already exhausted, but I guess he’s entitled.

“…I think you should date me,” I tell him. Well, the midget did tell me to up my game.

Joshua doesn’t even snort. Doesn’t flinch, doesn’t move, no _nuthin’_. “Why would I do that?”

I shrug. “I’m hot,” I tell him. “Dating me would be fun. I’ll make it worth your time.”

Joshua sighs like I make his life twice as difficult – which I probably do, to be honest – and sits up straight, slapping his palms on his bare knees. “Alright, Jeonghan. Let’s go out on a date.”

I blank at that. “What, really?”

“Sure.” He stands and stretches slowly. “We can go out to the race track, and I can run over your pathetic ass with a Maserati.” Then he leaves me by the bench and runs off onto the playing field where little drops of dew are starting to settle in the short blades of grass to warm up with his team mates.

I smirk a little to myself. Well, at least the kid’s got spunk.

 

The game’s going well. Okay, maybe not _well_ , but that ball hasn’t touched a net yet on either side, so it’s not like it’s going _badly_.

I think.

The stadium we have isn’t _huge_ , but it would fit most of the school, and I already know where Jun is. He’s been a spectator at every sports event so far, and has sat in the front rows of all the events I’ve competed in. And I know he watches me, ‘cause we’ve made eye-contact twice now. And it puts me on edge. Makes me nervous and excited. Let’s just say it takes a lot of effort for me to stay in the game.

We go into the second half of the game, and I’m pumped. I can feel the blood rushing through my veins.

All I have to do is make sure I don’t think about Jun. About how his large, sharp eyes watch me. About the fact that I haven’t had a chance to apologize for the red welt on his cheek where I slapped him. And now I’m thinking about all the reasons that I slapped him and thinking they’re all kind of crap reasons, because it’s not like I _disliked_ the kiss. In fact… it was just a shocker. I’d be okay if he kissed me again. This time, I’ll savor it.

Like I’m ever going to get a chance.

Suddenly the ball is in my court – really _near_ my court in fact – and I come into action.

I should have listened to Jeonghan earlier, when he was complaining about how huge the Jaehwang team is. All of their athletes are really big. This one’s about the size of a small cabin in the woods.

It all goes quickly, too quickly. Dew is setting on the field. I move too quickly. I’m too light. He’s too heavy. It seems to go by far too slowly and far too quickly at the same time. A rush of splinter-like pain rushes up the outside of my right leg, and the world goes dark before I can scream.


	14. Can I Lay By Your Side?

“Joshua? Joshua!”

It’s funny, because I know he’s a demon, but I kind of expect him to have a halo. His face is so pretty that even when my vision is out of focus and blurry, his face is still the one that catches my attention.

“Hey there, brown-eyes.” His voice is so sweet. So smooth. A hand waves over my face. “Can you see?”

Opening my mouth and speaking isn’t so hard, but what comes out is a squeaky, cracked little voice. “What’s happened?”

Jeonghan’s face starts to come into view, and I can’t help but compare them.

They’re both demons, and Jeonghan annoys the crap out of me, but I can’t help but feel that based on looks alone, he’s the softer of the two. His eyes are round where Jun’s are sharp, and he’s got a very soft look about his face. Even his cheekbones, although they jut out, have a sweet kind of curve to them. Maybe his long hair adds to the feeling.

And even though Jun is kinder and nicer to me, his features are wild and wolfish. Everything is so entirely outlined, so sharp. It doesn’t look bad – it suits him – but if I had to guess that one of them was a demon…

Well, maybe I’d still choose Jeonghan. Possibly because normal people just don’t look that soft.

“You got knocked to the ground,” Jeonghan says lowly. “And you sound like crap.”

“I hate you,” I croak back. I start to pull my head up but quickly lower it again when the sky starts to swoop at me. “Hey, can somebody tell God to stop making the sky do that?”

Jun chuckles. “Alright, we’ll get you a stretcher. Don’t move.”

“I’ll take him.”

The two of them glare at each other until the sky stops swirling. “Let Jun take me,” I croak.

“I _am_ a teacher, after all,” Jun preens.

“You’re also gonna get a knuckle sandwich if-”

Somebody puts a stretcher beside me, and the two have to postpone their macho duel until further notice: it’s a dizzying experience, but I feel _kind_ of alright. Jun simply walks by my side until we’re inside.

“…don’t you have a nurse at this school?” he asks awkwardly.

“At like, ten PM? No. I’ll be okay. I just need to rest. And maybe a painkiller.”

Jun chuckles at that, getting me a glass of water and a little white pill. It strikes me that I probably should be more hesitant about taking pills from a demon, but I don’t spend more than a second on it.

He smiles at me – a bit of a smirk, really, and leans on his hands as he hovers over me. “Feel better?”

“…uh. Don’t know.”

He looks at me with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “You know, you look different without your glasses.”

“People tend to look different without glasses.”

He grins at me. “Yeah, but you look _really_ different.”

I give him a look. “Sorry about your face,” I mumble quietly. “I didn’t think that would happen.”

He laughs a little at me, turning his face. “Nah, it’s not so bad. My ego’s bruised more than my face is.”

I purse my lips into a thin line for a moment, heart sagging a little. Sure, he’s a teacher, but he’s not _really_ a teacher. He’s a demon. And he’s only a few years older than me anyway. “I’m sorry about that, too.”

He looks at me and his eyes are so focused and sharp and _bright_ on me that it’s hard to look away, and it makes my heartbeat rack up, making the dizziness worse. “Maybe you should make it up to me,” he coos.

I raise a brow, and it gives me a searing headache. “Yeah?” I warble. I clear my throat a little in an attempt to make myself sound less pathetic. “How?”

One corner of his mouth curls up. “You could kiss me.”

“I’m a little concussed right now,” I admit sheepishly. “I think kissing is a bad idea when I already get such poor oxygen flow.”

“You’re probably right.” Jun straightens out a little, leaning back in the chair. “I don’t mind, I’m a patient demon. I can wait.”

“…and until then?”

“I’ll be holding you personally accountable for the welt on my face and the bruise on my heart,” he claims dramatically, putting his hand on his chest.

“Didn’t know demons had hearts,” I tease.

He shakes his head at me with a smile, almost as if he’s vaguely disappointed with me. “So much you don’t know about us, cutie.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Like how much I want to kiss you.”

“Why don’t you?”

“You have to kiss _me_ , remember? It’s your punishment for hurting my feelings.”

I can’t help but blush and look away. I’m not some stuck-up princess, but I’m not going to admit to him that he took my first kiss, and that it’s incredibly embarrassing.

“Hey.” He pokes my thigh once, gently. “You’re not really upset about it, are you? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“I’m not upset,” I mutter.

“…how’s the headache?”

I take a moment to think about it. “Subsiding. I think.”

“Want to try sitting up?”

“Uh… no?”

He laughs, but slides a hand under my head to help me sit up. The room swirls for a moment before it seems to settle a little and I grip the glass of water again. “…thanks.”

“You seem to be a little fragile,” Jun observes, sitting back in his chair again. “How troublesome, I’ll have to take extra-special care of you.”

“I’m not fragile,” I protest loudly. “What even happened?”

He grins. “The foot of a two-hundred-pound soccer player skid under your foot when you were trying to get the ball. He basically tripped you up, and your head hit the ground. Do you mind?”

I give him a hazy look. “Mind what?”

“…me taking a peek at your brain of course. To see if you’ve really got a concussion, or if you’re okay.”

I stare at him awkwardly. “Is that a demon thing, or are you asking permission to drill into my skull?”

He doesn’t change his smirk. “Demon thing.”

“Sure. J-just my brain though.”

He stares at my skull for a long time – long enough to make me feel awkward, and to make me wonder whether he was just kidding about being able to see my brain.

He begins to tut slowly. “Lots of serotonin, and some oxytocin.”

I bridle awkwardly. “Is that bad?”

He hums as if he’s thinking it over, then smirks a huge, wolfy grin. “Means you’re in love, and feel like making out with somebody. Maybe it’s me? How flattering.”

“Hey!” I move to push him but don’t touch him at the last moment, wary of the red welt on his cheek. “Who gave you permission to-”

He straightens out. “I’m just teasing. You’re not concussed.”

“Can you really see my brain?”

He gives me a measuring look. “Yeah. Any part of your body, if I like. It’s handy for medical examinations. Like today. Especially when you seem _so_ prone to falling over.”

I decide not to even comment on that.

Cheering explodes outside, and only a few minutes later Jeonghan breezes through the door. “Jaehwang won. It’s 3-all.”

“Damn.”

He surveys me. “Not molested yet?”

I go bright red. “No! Jun would never.”

“Now, now.” Jun grins, putting his hands on my shoulders. “Don’t make me look too good. I might still blow your house down, little piggy.”

“Shut up.”

Jeonghan grips my wrist, tugging. “Time to go home. You’ve got a schedule tomorrow again.”

“What are you, his mom?” Suddenly, Jun looks a lot bigger, as if he’s grown in both height and width. He crosses his arms across the wide expanse of his chest in front of me. “He can’t stay with me?”

I tap his back. “It’s okay,” I mumble. “I’m kind of tired, I should go to bed.”

Jeonghan’s face goes steely and cold. “In case you’ve forgotten, he’s _my_ concordat, not yours.”

“Okay.” I hop off the table in the nurse’s office to get in between them. “Let’s put an end to this sausage fest of epic demon macho proportions, alright guys? I’m a perfectly independent person who can bloody well speak for himself and doesn’t need _either of you_ telling him or other people what’s best for him. Does that resonate with everybody in the room?”

“Resonates with me,” Wonwoo coos from the doorway, holding up a hand.

I curl my head around Jeonghan’s body to see him. “Apparently our fire-and-brimstone buddies over here have a hard time grasping the concept.”

Wonwoo holds up his hands. “Not my buddies, don’t lump me with them. But I’ll take you home if you like.”

I look at Jeonghan and his locked jaw, and then Jun and his blazing eyes. “Are either of you going to grow up any time soon?” I wait a full 42 Mississipis before walking around Jeonghan’s body. “Let’s go.”

Wonwoo puts his arms around my waist comfortably. “Are you alright? You hit your head pretty hard.”

“I’m fine. The brimstone is affecting my lungs in here.”

“No, wait!” Jeonghan halts his staring game with Jun to dash after us. “I’ll walk with you.”

 

“…I didn’t know you were joining the talent competition.”

I blink, but don’t make any further motions. “I’ve won the in-school talent competition every year I’ve been here.”

“ _Really_? What do you do that’s so special?”

“Apparently, I melt the hearts of young maidens all over.” I pull my guitar out of its case gently and close it again. “Janitor staff are judging, because they’ll be able to be impartial.”

“Ah, so that’s why you’re not in uniform,” Jeonghan realizes slowly. “They can’t know you’re in Deck High…”

“Precisely.”

“Guitar, that’s all you do?”

“I sing, you idiot.”

He makes faces behind my back, but I’ve kind of gotten used to the joyful antagonism between us – it’s kind of comfortable, knowing I don’t have to make an effort to be nice to him. It makes jading him so much more pleasant. I take a seat and gently strum the strings, adjusting them as needed.

One of the freshmen helping out comes and sticks a number to my back and front before hurrying along, and I simply keep strumming various chords.

“You don’t sound that good,” Jeonghan comments.

“Well nothing sounds good when you have your head so far up your ass.”

 

I take a deep breath, settling on the stool that’s prepared in the middle of the stage. Some of the acts have been really good so far – some from Deck, and others from Jaehwang. It’s a little disconcerting, but I just need to refocus. It’s about me, not the competition, after all.

Fingerstrumming is a hidden talent of mine. I strum a few chords before letting my fingers tickle the strings. I close my eyes, and let the soft tune carry.

“Yes, I do, I believe,  
That one day I will be, where I was  
Right there, right next to you –  
And it’s hard, the days just seem so dark,  
the moon, the stars, are nothing without you,  
Your touch, your skin,  
Where do I begin?  
No words can explain the way I’m missing you,  
The night, this emptiness,  
This hole that I’m inside,  
These tears, they tell their own story…

Told me not to cry when you were gone,  
But the feeling’s overwhelming, it’s much too strong.  
Can I lay by your side?  
Next to you, you -  
and make sure you’re alright?  
I’ll take care of you  
Cause I don’t wanna be here if I can’t be with you tonight.

I’m reaching out to you,  
Can you hear my call?  
This hurt that I’ve been through,  
I’m missing you, missing you like crazy.

Told me not to cry when you were gone,  
But the feeling’s overwhelming, it’s much too strong.  
Can I lay by your side?  
Next to you, you -  
and make sure you’re alright?  
I’ll take care of you  
Cause I don’t wanna be here if I can’t be with you tonight.”

 

Jeonghan looks at me like he’s seen a ghost. “Holy crap on a cracker,” he tells me.

“What?”

“I didn’t know you could do _that_.” His nose wrinkles up in pure disgust. “You sounded like an _angel._ ”

“Hey.” DK nudges him from the side, almost. “Shut up. You were amazing, Joshua.” He leans in and gives me a warm hug, a little tighter than usual. “Well done.”

“Thanks.”

 

Joshua goes to the washroom and the stupid angel glares at me. “Hey! Do you want to die?”

I hold up my hands. “What?!”

“Nobody rags on Joshua. Not after he sings _that_ song.”

“What’s up with _that_ song?” I ask, mocking. “Is it _his speshur song? Does he need to sing a song before he goes to beddie-weddy and nighty-wighty?_ ”

DK gives me a base look. The kind of filthy look I wouldn’t give a flea. “His father died of cancer when Joshua was seven years old,” he says coldly. “They were in a car at the time. The paramedics pulled Joshua out first. He believes he killed his own father.”


	15. Deep-fried ice-cream

“…hey.”

“Yeah?”

He looks away, like he can’t bear to say it to my face. “…was good.”

I give him a _look_. The kind of look that deeply questions a man’s sanity. “Yes?”

“The performance. It was good.”

It’s hard to explain that kind of shock. Hard to explain how it disarms you. I’m always ready to let Jeonghan know how done I am with his existence in my life, but he’s never said anything nice to me before. And I don’t really say nice things to him, either. And this comment is rushing out of _nowhere_ , and I’m not sure what to say.

So I just stand there, mouth slightly open for a moment.

When Jeonghan notices he scoffs a little and looks away, cheeks tinged pink, but eventually turns back to me. “You don’t have to be so shocked, I’m not the most evil denizen of hell, you know. I can be nice too, you know.”

“Uh.” I feel like I’m forced to speak, with so much effort that I trip forward a little after him. “Uh, tha- …thank you.”

His face just goes more pink. “You’re welcome,” he mumbles.

It’s stupid, I know, but the core of the conversation gives me a funny feeling inside. Like maybe we just got a little closer. As if I feel a little more comfortable around him. I grin at the idea, deciding not to mention his blushing, and jog until we’re walking side-by-side.

“You know, you really shouldn’t talk to Jun anymore.”

Aaaaaaaaaand the feeling is gone.

I scowl at him. “Well, you should keep your mouth shut instead of talking about other people’s private business.”

He scowls right back. “Your safety is _my_ private business.”

“He won’t hurt me.” I’m starting to sweat just _thinking_ about what he said to me last night. For me to kiss him. Like… voluntarily. By myself. It’s not that I’d _mind_ kissing him. Or being kissed by him. Or, you know, _that kind of stuff_. It’s that he’s so damn sneaky about it.

“That’s a matter of opinion,” Jeonghan returns.

“Well I don’t care for your opinion.”

“Would you listen to me?” He stops me near a cotton candy stall some sophomores have put up. “I’m trying to tell you he’s no good and keep protecting you.”

I sigh. “I’m an individual, aren’t I? You think I can’t think for myself? I know what I’m doing so how about you just butt out? It’s my life, you know.”

Jeonghan grits his teeth and holds up both fists – not like he’s going to strike me, but just like he’s frustrated. “Ugh!” he finally growls after struggling with his words for a while.

“Yes, Jeonghan, very eloquent.”

I can feel the hands on my shoulders before I have time to turn around: he’s got my back flat against his broad chest, and it feels nice. Warm, and hard, but good-hard. Like an excellent-quality mattress: sturdy, and just a tiny bit squishy. I can’t help the expression on my face. “Hey, Jun.”

The demon’s hand gently comes up on my throat, fingers gripping my chin to tilt my head back. It’s annoying how he’s still wolfishly handsome upside-down. “Hello yourself, Joker. Oh? You look cute from this angle. No wonder Jeonghan likes to sleep over you like this. I’m jealous.”

“Ew,” Jeonghan and I cringe simultaneously.

“Anyway, I came to find you for a reason you know.” He lets me go and I turn to him to listen. “I was hoping you’d come grab coffee with me and we can find a secluded spot to-”

“Over my dead carcass,” Jeonghan interrupts rudely.

I sigh, closing my eyes a moment. “I’d love to, but I can’t. I have about half an hour before I need to get into the building again to taste-test a cooking competition.”

“Aww.” Jun’s smirk doesn’t let up, not for a single moment. “That’s okay. I’ll kidnap you some other time.”

“So help me,” Jeonghan growls from behind me.

“Excuse me,” a new voice interrupts. “But if we’re talking about kidnapping Joshua, I’d like to go first.” His voice softens a little. “I have something I need to talk to you about, Josh.”

 

 

 _This is it,_ I think as I make my way over the grounds. Neck craning. Eyes searching. There’s no point in delaying it all. Not when every day there seem to be more demons in the vicinity and my job to protect him becomes that much harder. There’s no point in waiting. No matter what the outcome is, I’ll still be by him.

I just have to find him first.

He’s near the cotton candy stall, in between two demons.

It’s ironic, how quickly everything can change. We haven’t hit the end of the first semester, and already my world has radically changed. Joshua – _my_ Joshua, tall and lanky and languid, with his skinny little arms and long neck, knobbly throat, with his beautiful kitten-like lips and twinkling eyes and a smile that could shatter the heavens – was now caught between a demon that wanted to consume his soul, and a demon that wanted to steal his virginity.

And I just want to hold him and tell him how precious he is. I want to keep his skinny little waist in the circle of my arms and fly with him so he can see the city from a height and marvel at it. I want to show him how beloved he is. How beloved he could be, if he let me.

There seems to be some talk of kidnapping, and I haven’t been talking myself up in the mirror all morning to let this chance go to waste. “Excuse me,” I mutter, “But if we’re talking about kidnapping Joshua, I’d like to go first.” I give both denizens of Hell a glare, _daring_ them to contradict, before turning to Joshua. “I have something I need to talk to you about, Josh.”

He’s so _bright_. His whole face brightens when he sees me. He looks at me half over his shoulder, and he’s got a special smile, just for me. I know. He doesn’t give anybody else this smile, not in that way. It’s just right. It’s perfect. He’s perfect. My perfect Joshua.

“Sure, Wonwoo. We should be heading in anyway.” He turns to the demons. “You two can continue your sausage-off, just don’t disturb the festival, got that?”

I jog up so I can sidle up next to him, close enough to link my arm with his. “Were they bothering you?”

“Jeonghan always bothers me.” Joshua gives me a warm, friendly smile. “It’s alright, don’t worry about those two. I don’t think either of them mean me any harm.”

“You could _not_ be any more wrong about that.”

Joshua rolls his eyes with a good-natured smile, and I think about how wonderful he is to have so much trust for other people. He trusts _demons_ because he wants to. Because he thinks there’s something more than hellish demonic power in them.

Joshua never ceases to amaze me.

I pull him into the school building, which is mostly empty but for a few lingerers; I make my way to the library, which is thankfully empty as I thought it would be.

Joshua’s simple, happy smile makes way for a more serious look. “Wonwoo? You said you needed to talk to me, right?”

“Yeah.” I let him go and stuff my hands in my pockets, suddenly feeling a lot less courageous than I did earlier. There’s a little something in my stomach bouldering about unhappily. “I do.”

He folds his arms instantly. “Is this about the demons thing? Because if so, I’m _so_ not here for that. You want to complain about them? I’ve already heard it all. Multiple times. I think it’s time everybody got used to the idea that I’m a fully-grown human and I know what I’m doing. I can make my own decisions, about literally everything, and I don’t need a group of friends protecting me from some harmless flirtation. Besides-”

“It isn’t about the demons,” I say before he can get any further. I hold up both palms. “Uh, actually, this hasn’t got anything to do with them. They’re beside the point. Although, if you would _like_ a lecture…” I can’t help but smirk at him.

He smirks back. “Shut up.”

I can’t help but stand in the abandoned library and grin at him for a while. He’s just so beautiful, inside and out. I kind of wish I could stand here and look at him forever, because I feel that no matter what, he’d be beautiful if he were to stand here for forever, too.

Eventually his smile wears thin, and worry shows up in his expression. “If it’s not about that… well, you brought me here, so it must be serious. What’s wrong, Wonwon?”

A tweak a grin at his nickname. Wonwon. It was so _Joshua_.

Okay, I need to focus. I practiced this. A lot, actually I practiced a lot. I can do this.

I place my hands on Joshua’s shoulders, and try to ignore the worry in his eyes. He’s beautiful, he’s so beautiful. His shoulders are so small, they feel brittle under my hands. I’m in love. I’m in love with Joshua. I want to scream it from the rooftops. I’m in love with him, and I want him to be in love with me.

“It’s…” I struggle for a moment. He’s so beautiful, I’ve forgotten most of what I wanted to say.

Joshua puts his arms around me in a warm embrace, pulling me in a bit closer. “Hey, you know you can tell me anything, right? No matter what it is.”

I can’t. I’ve lost all my words. I don’t remember what I was supposed to start a sentence with. He’s so close I can feel his heat, hear his heartbeat. All I can bare to do is lean in and _very_ gently press my lips against his just once.

His arms drop from my body immediately and he just stands there, frozen and mute.

It takes me a minute to realize what I just did, and how it was received. “Oh, shit,” I mumble. “Uh, no, I wasn’t meant to-! Uh, please don’t freak out! I didn’t really mean to do that! I meant to talk to you first! _Crap_ , uh, please don’t freak out!”

Joshua swallows, the Adam’s Apple in his throat gently bobbing down and back up. “Uh, not freaking out?” he tries.

He’s confused. I can see it in his eyes, in his face. He’s totally weirded out. Crap. He’s confused and upset.

“I’m sorry. Here. Uh, let’s sit down.” I hold out a chair from a near-by table to him and he stares at it for a few seconds before comprehending and sitting down. I sit down opposite him, pulling a chair around, and hold my hands between my knees. “I’m sorry. I, uh – will you listen?”

Joshua nods once.

“We’ve been friends for a long time?”

“Since pre-school,” he answers.

“Yeah. That’s a long time. In that time, Joshua – I mean, I’ve seen every side of you there is to see. I know you better than anybody else, and I don’t care what they say. I’ve been your best friend for years. I’ve helped you with sports, with homework, when your sister moved out, I’ve been there for you, right?”

“Yeah,” he mumbles. “You’re my best friend.”

“I don’t want that to change. Please know that. I don’t want that to ever change, no matter what. Are you hearing me?” I grip his hands in mine, leaning forward. “You are my _best_ friend and it would destroy me if that ever changed.”

“O-of course.” He seems a little flustered. “I don’t want you to stop being my best friend, of course not. We’ll be best friends forever.”

I exhale, a little relieved. Even if he rejects me, I still have that.

“Listen, Joshua.” I’m holding his hands. His skinny little hands. They’re really pale, even compared to mine. I don’t move or change positions. “No matter what, you can pretend today never happened. But… you don’t have an Ovo. I can’t, ‘cause I’m an Angel. I was heartbroken when I heard. But… it just means that maybe God wants me to have a chance.”

That isn’t registering in Joshua’s mind, I can tell.

“That… maybe, just _maybe_ , you might someday feel the same way about me as I feel about you. I… I love you, Joshua. Not as your buddy or a Prefect or a best friend. Not even as an Angel loves the person he’s been assigned to keep watch over. I love you in a human way. As a man loves another man.” I can’t not look up at him. “I love your voice, and your hair. I love your heart and mind and soul, and I love your bossiness and your willingness to help people. I love how your eyes twinkle when you’re happy, and I love the dimples in your cheeks when you smile. I love how you clap wordlessly when you’re laughing, and I love how you walk. I… I’ve fallen in love with you, Joshua.

“There’s not that much time until graduation. I didn’t want to wait until then to tell you. I felt that would be cowardly. I just need you to know that you’re the most precious, most _treasured_ person in my life, and that I would do anything to make you happy. Except, I guess I’m kind of hoping you would be happy by having me by your side.”

I wait. I know it’s a lot of information for him to process all at once, and that he doesn’t always do too well with surprises like this.

After a couple of moments, he opens his mouth, but his voice is very soft. “I’m not bossy,” he says gently.

I chuckle, closing my eyes. I already know what that means. It means he heard every word I just said, and that he’s not going to say it back.

“Wonwoo. I… I had no idea. I-”

“Don’t,” I tell him. I guess it hasn’t sunk in quite yet, because I’m still able to give him a soft smile. “Don’t put yourself through that. It’s alright. I just needed to get it off my chest. I needed you to know.”

Joshua puts a hand behind his head, scratching there gently. “I don’t... know… what to…”

“Don’t worry about it,” I tell him. “No matter what, you promised we’d still be best friends. I still want to be your best friend, if you’ll let me.”

“ _Wonwoo_ ,” he said gently. And then, sweetly, he begins to tear up.

“Hey!” I stand up and grip him in a tight hug: I hate seeing him unhappy in the least. “Hey, now, what are you crying for?!”

“I’m _hurting you_ ,” Joshua whispers, as if he’s confessing a crime. He sniffs a little and gulps, his head buried in my shoulder. “I’m hurting my best friend and I don’t know how to stop!”

I squeeze out a tear too, feeling sorry for myself for just a moment before I rub Joshua’s back. “Hey now, shouldn’t I be the one crying?” I joke, comforting him. “Don’t worry. It doesn’t hurt so much. You know why?”

“ _Why?_ ” Joshua asks, his voice breaking and a little sarcastic.

“Because you’re still the best friend I’ve ever had,” I tell him, and it hurts more because it’s the truth. “And because as long as I get to stay by your side, I’ll be satisfied. More than that, I’ll be happy.”

He’s blubbering, but he’s starting to control it. He leans out of the hug, using both hands to wipe tears from his face. “R-really?” his voice stammers. “Do you really mean that?”

“Of course. You’re still my best bud, right? As long as you don’t hate me, all is well.”

“Pro-promise?” he murmurs.

“Pinky promise,” I tell him softly. I stroke his hair on both sides of his head. “No more crying, I don’t like to see you cry. Okay?”

He sniffs one last time and nods, his face a little pink. “Okay. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry.” I ruffle his hair with one hand, and the pain is starting to seep deep in my chest. I have to resist giving in to it just a little longer. “Are you alright? I hear some freshmen have like deep-fried ice-cream or some new-fangled bullshit you need to eat for this cooking competition.”

Joshua laughs once, letting his eyes completely disappear for a moment before he grabs me by the hand, pulling me along. “Deep-fried ice-cream I _have_ to try!”


	16. I'm Called Rumpelstiltskin

“So, where’s your body guard? Doesn’t he usually hover like a madman?”

“He started smoking so I banished him.” I point a finger at the sky. “Rooftop.”

DK laughs heartily and puts an arm around me, but all I can see is Wonwoo at the end of the table, head down, and it sends an uncomfortable pang through my chest.

Never had I ever considered Wonwoo as anything more than a friend. A _best_ friend. _The_ best friend. I’m at a loss for not only words, but thoughts as well. It’s as if my brain has just gone silent. I don’t even know what to think. I just want to stop hurting him. He’s Wonwoo. He deserves happiness. And the idea that I’m causing him grief because I don’t have a romantic attachment…

The judging starts: we’re all served one large plate of a main meal and a dessert, and we give our individual ratings. I announce the winner, and my mouth says the words but my brain isn’t processing it. Like it literally has just stopped.

It takes me a full 23 seconds of ringtone to realize my phone is going off.

“Hello, this is the secretary of the Seoul General Hospital speaking. Is this Mr. Joshua Hong?”

For a second, I’m scared my brain won’t do anything, but then it kick-starts with a jump. “Ah, hello. Yes, I’m Joshua.”

“Sir, we know you had an appointment coming up next week, but we just had a last-minute cancellation and Dr. Kim said it would be best to see you as soon as possible, if you are able to take it.”

“Oh?” My brain splutters and then starts whirring again. “Oh, that would be handy, but I can’t be sure of my availability. What opening do you have?”

“Tomorrow morning at eight.”

I check my watch, and look up at the rooftop, and then at my schedule book. “Ah, may I have a moment please?” I put the phone down and check today’s time. “Excuse me, ma’am? It’s a short appointment, right?”

“Yes, it’s a preliminary exam, so it should only take thirty to forty minutes.”

I look up at the rooftop again, but I can’t spot Jeonghan anywhere. “Ah, I see… yes, I’d like to take that spot please, if I may.”

I’ve barely put the phone down again before a voice makes me jump, literally _jump_ off the ground, squeaking all the while.

“Sounds serious if it’s going to take half an hour.”

“Jun!”

He smirks and pulls me aside behind a corner of the building, away from peeping students. “Hello, Joshua.”

I grin, and I’m a bit flushed doing it. “Hey. Your face looks better.”

Jun grins. “Yeah. Still hurts though. Just like my heart.”

I shake my head with a grin. “Why are you like this?”

“You still haven’t made it up to me yet.”

I raise an eyebrow before I remember. “Oh, yes, you want me to up and _kiss_ you like a two-dollar hoe.”

He blanks at that, and then laughs, and I can’t help but marvel at Jun’s laugh. He doesn’t just giggle or chuckle or snicker, he _laughs_. He goes for it – throws his head back, opens his mouth wide, leans back, claps his hands, the whole caboodle. He laughs loud and baritone and it has a really pleasant echo to it. I’d be too embarrassed to laugh like that – mine is smaller, less pronounced.

“Alright, alright. What are you seeing a doctor for?”

“Just an asthma check-up,” I lie smoothly.

Jun leans his back up against the wall and pulls me in closer so we’re barely a few inches apart. “Eight is cutting it a little close, don’t you think?”

“I hate you demons and your super-man hearing.”

He isn’t easily distracted. “It’s still close. Aren’t you competing in math?”

“I’m competing in everything tomorrow, but don’t worry. I’ll have Jeonghan. He can do a big flashy demon thing and get me there in seconds, right?”

“Right,” Jun confirms, not letting go of the tops of my arms. “Then I guess you’ll be alright. Speaking of your trusty knight in shining armour…”

“Rooftop,” I mutter. “Smoking.”

“He wasn’t up there just a second ago.”

“He wasn’t?”

“No.”

 

Jeonghan doesn’t show up for the talent show. He doesn’t show up after. Jeonghan doesn’t show his face as DK walks me home, and he’s not there waiting for me. It’s midnight before I manage to doze off, but even in the dark I never see his blood-red demon eyes. When I wake up in the early morning, he’s nowhere to be found.

I can’t spend too much time worrying about where my demon is. He must be within 100 yards or so, and just keeping his distance, so _whatever_ , I have bigger fish to fry.

Dr. Kim’s assistant takes me in for my chest x-rays. Front and back, several at a time. I like his assistant. She’s kind and doesn’t try to chit-chat awkwardly like some hospital staff do. She also wears bright purple lipstick, which I think is a bit weird, but she manages to pull it off _and_ you can recognize her from a distance.

Fifteen minutes have already passed with Dr. Kim calls me in. I saw a lot of him, some years ago. I hoped I wouldn’t have to see him again until I was in my forties, maybe fifties. But I don’t have that kind of luck.

“Joshua,” he tells me eventually, “you know in order to give you a full diagnosis we need to go for a long haul. Take swatches and samples and test your urine and your blood and do some scans.”

“Yeah,” I tell him. Being in Dr. Kim’s room always makes me kind of quiet.

He sighs. “I’ve had a look at your x-rays.”

I already know the news isn’t good. I knew it from the first moment I coughed. But to see it in the premature fine lines of his face is almost worse, somehow. Worse, because I know I’m going to have to hear the words spoke out loud. Worse, because I know I’ll have to go home and see those same creases far deeper in my mother’s face when I tell her. Worse, because I know I’ll be worrying her, and because her worry won’t help anything anyway. Worse, because just like last time, I’ll do my best not to tell anybody who doesn’t need to know. Worse, because I thought I was free. Worse, because I’m more sick.

Yes. Yes, being here makes it worse.

“Even without the extra medical tests, given your history, we already both know what this means.” He swivels the computer screen towards me, where my chest x-rays are blown up full-screen.

The x-rays are usually vague, so it takes me a moment to see it, to re-adjust my eyes to looking at the ghoulish black-and-white images. But right there, spread out from the middle, there is a vague white film that almost looks like liquid does under a microscope.

I exhale.

“I’m sorry, Joshua.”

“It’s back,” my voice says softly. I don’t even feel my lips move.

“Yes, it’s back. I’m afraid it looks like you’re in stage two of lung cancer.”

 

It’s not within me to be emotional. I’m just not that kind of person. But I really didn’t expect a relapse to happen so _soon_. They told me it could be decades. I was declared healthy when I was _eleven_. I was supposed to live a healthy life. I was supposed to be an adult before it hit again, if it ever _did_ hit again.

So when I’ve arranged appointments to get more testing done, I simply go and stand by the outer wall of the hospital.

“Jeonghan,” I say in a normal tone. “I know you have to be close to me, close enough to hear me with your supersonic hearing. Listen. I’m not kidding. I need you.” I pull myself up, straight out, pull on my blazer. I will have time for emotion later. Right now, with the last of my strength, I’ll be saving my school, and it’s good to have a project. Something to focus on. “And I need you now.”

I wait – twenty seconds, forty, a minute and ten. No help arrives.

And then suddenly, he’s walking around the corner like he’s Madonna. Simple dark pants, white button-down shirt, first two buttons open, no tie, blazer slung over one shoulder, sunglasses on. Hair gelled back. Cigarette caught between both lips. He’s ridiculously gorgeous.

He smiles at me. “I thought you might need a ride. You’re already late.”

I blink for a few moments, because honestly, talk about _knight in shining armour._ “Cigarette, please,” I beg, and when he ditches it, I come closer.

Jun holds out a hand and when I take it, he pulls me in and puts an arm around me. “Bad morning?”

I nod woodenly, once. I don’t ask how he knows: it’s probably splattered across my face, that I feel like shit. It feels really nice to be close to him like this. He runs a little warmer than humans, and I guess it’s a hellfire-and-brimstone thing, but it’s really comforting regardless. I realize suddenly that I’m cold – really, really cold, and that Jun’s hot hands are rubbing my back to warm me up, not for comfort.

“Can we just go?” I ask in a small voice. “I really will be late.”

“…you don’t want to talk about it?”

I shake my head. Now is not the time. I have duties to perform, and besides, I’m not sure I _can_ talk about it right now. I don’t think my mind has settled it in as fact yet.

“Alright then,” Jun says softly.

And within seconds, just like that, with a little demon magic we’re backstage in the school auditorium. I’m welcomed by the math team – two guys and a girl named Jenny who is better with new math than anybody I’ve ever seen. They had been getting anxious.

I captain all the teams today, as I’m the student with the best grades, average and individual. I know I have to be flawless, perfect, and confident, no matter how much I feel like my body is trying to eat me alive from the inside out.

So I straight my back, correct my tie, and I take my place on the stage in front of an auditorium full of people.

I’m not just some kid with lung cancer who is an emotional wreck and lets an illness guide his life. I’m Joshua Hong. And more than that, I’m the Joker Prefect. I have the school under my wing, and it’s my responsibility that all the students are cared for. I’m responsible for it all. And not even cancer can take that away from me.

We win our math round, naturally; the science round goes well, too. We lose language on two points, and it’s a bummer but it can’t be helped because our French classes only run one a week, and Jaehwang’s run twice a week. When it comes to general knowledge, it’s a one-on-one showdown. It’s alright six PM. I had fried rice for lunch and some snacks in between, but I feel like it’s not enough with the emotional breakdown going on in a secluded room at the back of my head.

All I can do is _hope_ that this does not tie us again. It would mean it would be a tie in all, and while that wouldn’t mean losing my school, it might mean the Principle losing face. And to me, that is losing.

“The General Knowledge round will consist of five questions. The candidate to hit their buzzer first may answer. You may not answer if you have not hit your buzzer. These questions have been decided upon by both Principles. Are you ready?”

I nod my consent.

“Question one.”

My heart is pounding, blood is rushing through my ears. I know Jun is watching from the wings and I know the Prefects are in the front row, egging me on. I haven’t missed a question so far today, but there’s five more questions to go and anything can happen. What will they be on? History? Geography? Politics? Humanities?

“What color plays first in a game of chess?”

The first thought in my mind is _hit the buzzer, I know_. The second thought is _what the hell kind of question is that?_

“Joshua?”

“Black,” I say, but it sounds like the end of a gasp. I take a few hackled breathes and clear my throat. “The player using black pieces plays first in a game of chess.”

“…correct. Question two.”

So they are very random questions. Not scholastic. Literal general knowledge.

“If you maintain a pot of 100 grams of long-grain plain white rice and 200 milliliters of water at 115 degrees celcius,-”

_It’s a math question._

“- how long does it take for all the rice to be cooked?”

_What?!_

My opponent hits the buzzer. I can’t remember his name. It’s Woo something.

“Approximately eleven minutes. 115 degrees is a medium-to-high heat, in which it takes one person’s serving of rice just over ten minutes to cook.”

“Correct. Question three.”

_Get a grip, Joshua._

“When opening the Kakao Talk application and opening the Kakao Friends Sticker button on a conversation, which character’s stickers show up first?”

My hand hits the buzzer before I can even conjure the image of the Kakao Friends at all, but by the time my name is called, I already know the answer. “In the section of large stickers, Apeach is the first; however, in the section of the small stickers, Frodo’s stickers show up first. Whichever a person first sees depends on whether they last used large stickers or small stickers.”

“Correct.”

I need one more. Just one more.

“Question four.”

I can do this.

“In liquid soap, what is the first ingredient listed?”

My hand hits the buzzer.

“Joshua?”

“Water.”

She gives me a sorry look, and turns to my opponent. “Kevin?”

Kevin looks at her without so much as a smirk. “Aqua.”

 _That’s the same thing, the same bloody thing,_ I think. But I already know it doesn’t matter. I should have named it in Latin, because that is how it is listed.

“Correct. The next is the fifth and final question. Whoever wins this question, wins the entire competition.”

_Because we’re even all the way._

“Please listen carefully. Question five. Finish the quote. _Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, I’ll go to the King’s house, nobody knows my name-?”_

And all at once I’m three years old, tucked up safely in bed, with my father making sure my radiator is at the right temperature and my mom is on the edge of the bed telling me tonight’s bedtime story. They’re happy together, smiling at each other at intervals.

I’m lost, lost in this watery, painful memory. The happy memories always hurt the most. I can’t get out. I can’t stop looking at them. They’re so happy together. Warm, and bright.

A loud buzzer goes off and I’m ripped back into the present with pain in my chest.

“Kevin?”

“…but one day I’ll have fame?”

 _Wrong_. And then I’m hitting the buzzer, frantically.

She turns with an understanding smile. “Joshua?”

I stand up and lean into the microphone. “ _I’m called Rumpelstiltskin._ ”


	17. The Situation

I don’t wait around for her to tell me I’m right, that I’ve one the round, that I’ve saved my school. I don’t wait for the auditorium to erupt in cheers and for the Prefects to hug me and clap me on the back. I simply walk off the stage as the winner is announced, into the wings, past, and find myself a dark little janitor’s cupboard where nobody will find me.

Because it finally sinks in. _I’ve got lung cancer. I could die of lung cancer. It’s back. My lung cancer is back. Stage two, this time. I’ve got lung cancer, I’ve got cancer, I’ve got cancer._

I pull my knees up and bury my face in my lap. I’m a silent crier, thank _God,_ and twice in one week is overwhelming, but I feel like I might just be entitled. Just this once.

I know how, but I don’t have the strength to remember, so it seems to come out of nowhere, but he finds me. He practically rips the door off its hinges in his attempt to get at me, since I locked the door. He walks inside and, instead of asking any questions or making any remarks, he pulled my face up and examined me.

It takes me a few minutes to realize it’s him. There’s not enough light coming from the open doorway. It’s still dark.

His eyes glow red for a moment.

And then I’m hitting him, screaming and hitting him with both fists as tears roll down my cheeks. “You!” I scream at him. “You! Where were you?! Where have you been?! I needed you! You were gone! You were gone and I needed you!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Where were you?! That you couldn’t be here! I needed you! And you weren’t here!”

He curls his arms around my body and the anger that was raging through my veins a few seconds ago is all gone. I’m limp and cold and weak. So weak. I end up leaning my head against his bony shoulder, tears still streaming down my face. “Why?” I whisper. “Why weren’t you here?”

“I’m here now,” he says, and for some reason, it makes the pain in my heart a little duller. Not gone, just not as sharp as it was. “I’m here now, you’re not alone anymore.”

“Jeonghan,” I whisper, staring at nothing as cold tears tickle my chin. “Jeonghan, I’m going to die of lung cancer.”

“…I know,” he whispers back. “It’s getting late. It’s time boys like you were curled up in bed.”

My mother always told me I have a deep sense of responsibility and a very strong will to excel, and that’s why I’m like this, but that doesn’t help. Something stirs inside me. I have a duty to perform. I shake my head, even though I know I’m in a bad state. “I promised to patrol the sleepover-”

“We’ll get somebody to fill in.”

“N-no, I-”

His whisper is warm, and it’s comforting. It’s so damn comforting. “Let yourself sleep,” he tells me. “You deserve it.”

So I just close my eyes and let the darkness have me.

 

By the time I’m sure he’s asleep, I already know everybody is outside. No more than two people fit into this rabbit hutch of a closet anyway. I scoop him up in my arms, bridal style, and bring him out.

Those damn Prefects. That weird-ass angel that already confessed to Joshua. The smiley one with the gums who is looking glummer than I’ve ever seen him. The freak witch and his booty call of a boyfriend. And Jun. The demon.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s overexerted himself, that’s all. What he needs right now is rest, and plenty of it. I’ll be taking him home now.”

Jun bars my way. “Why are _you_ taking him?”

DK growls at him. “Even _I’ll_ admit a Concordat will take care of him better than anybody else.”

I give the demon the look of the death. “You wouldn’t like trying to take him away from me.” And with that, I simply disappear, and reappear in Joshua’s bedroom. I take off his blazer and belt, but I let him sleep in his clothes. He’ll be upset with me in the morning, but that’s not important.

What’s important is that Joshua might be dying a lot sooner than I expected, and what I expected even less than that, is that I don’t know how I feel about it.

 

I don’t get the chance to believe that I’m alone. His eyes glow red in the dark. They’re chocolate brown in daylight, but in the night time they’re a ghoulish, neon red. It’s usually very off-putting, but I’ve slowly grown used to it, and right now for the first time ever, it’s comforting.

 _Jeonghan’s presence is comforting_ , however sick that may be.

He blinks slowly at me. “Hello,” he whispers.

I don’t know what to answer, and upon closer inspection, I don’t think I can anyway. My throat hurts, more with each passing moment. I just nod at him pitifully.

“It’s almost dawn. When your mother leaves for work, I’ll make you breakfast.”

 _Make me breakfast?_ That one’s new. I slowly turn to my clock. 5:58. He’s right. It is nearly dawn. If mom leaves at eight… I wonder if I’ll make it to the awards ceremony in time. I clamber for my phone, and open the Prefect group chat.

It’s eerily silent. The last sent message was a _fighting!_ from Seungcheol.

 **Joshua:** Don’t worry, I’m alright. I just wasn’t feeling well. I’ll have a large breakfast before I show up today, so please don’t worry about me.

 **Jihoon:** Is the demon still with you?

 **Joshua:** Of all people, how are you awake?

 **Jihoon:** Seungcheol has a fantastic dick.  
**Jihoon:** HE TOOK MY PHONE AWAY AND WROTE THAT. I worked your night shift at the sleepover, that’s why I’m still awake.

 **Joshua:** Aaaaaalright-y then, moving along as fast as possible… is everybody alright? I’m sure it must have been hard last night. Thank you.

 **Wonwoo:** We were very worried about you. What’s going on?

 **Joshua:** Don’t worry, just a slight fever. You’ll all see me later. For now I’m going to eat well. Alright?

 **DK:** Take care of yourself. Don’t show up with a frown on your face, alright? :D

 

Jeonghan is silent as he makes breakfast – there’s plenty of it, too. Fried rice with vegetables, grilled beef, sautéed vegetables, soup, and multi-grain rice. He just gently sets each bowl in front of me and tells me to eat.

He’s quiet, and he’s not agitated, and for some reason, it bothers me. It makes me itchy. I wait until he sits.

“…how?”

I was right. My sore throat makes my voice sound croaky, like the squeaky hinges of an old door. Can’t be helped. I’ve been crying a lot lately.

“…when I got back into town I picked up your scent at the hospital, so I snooped around and found your files.”

My brow furrows automatically. “Into town? How could you have been out of town? You have to stay near me.”

He gives me a dead-ass look, the kind I give to Seungcheol frequently. “Your last words to me were, _argh, stupid smoker, go away from me as far as possible, even if it’s another continent away!_ , so I skipped out of the country for a while so I could move some assets, as it seems like I’ll be staying here permanently.” The look he gives me is solid. “If you command me directly like that, I can obey it.”

“…you’re telling me it was that easy to get rid of you and you never told me?”

He holds up both hands and then motions at the rice. He doesn’t start speaking until I eat. “I only have the choice whether to obey, I don’t _have_ to leave if you tell me to.”

I purse my lips, but keep eating. I didn’t know Jeonghan was a good cook, but the food is amazing. Everything tastes good, literally _everything_.

Jeonghan puts his elbows on the table and rests his head in both hands and gives me a smile, and it’s disarming. I don’t remember a time I’ve seen him smile like that. It’s a very genuine smile. One of happiness without motive.

“Enjoying yourself?”

I make quick work of nodding and swallowing. “Yeah, this is… this is great. You’re an amazing cook. Where did you learn this?”

Now his smile grows into a full-out grin of wonder and pride and _holy shit_ , he looks happy.

“Really? It’s really good?”

“Of course!” I make a show out of stuffing my face with food, since it seems to do even more for his expression that it even does for my tastebuds, and that’s saying something. Once I swallow, I lean in like he’s doing. “Seriously, since when do you cook so well?”

“Before I turned into a demon, my father was a royal chef in the Palace. He taught me everything he knew. I was training to be a royal chef, too. Because I’m a demon I don’t really eat now, but it’s good to know my skills haven’t gone rusty.”

“Rusty schmusty.” I take long drink of water, watching his eager expression. “It’s good. The food is really good.”

Jeonghan leans his head in his palms again, and for a moment, he looks downright dreamy. He’s happy – ridiculously happy, incomprehensively happy.

Then I think about how he’s been a demon for two-hundred-something years. “Hey… Jeonghan?”

“Hmm?”

“…I never did ask. How you became a demon?”

Jeonghan breathed deeply. “Well, to put a long story short, there’s only two ways a person can become a demon. The first way is by their own admission, by selling their soul for the life of a demon. They do this by making deals with demons. The second way is against their will. The only other way… for a human to become a demon, is…” Jeonghan wavers a very long time, gazing over the top of my head for a while. “…by allowing a demon he has a concordat with to die.”

I’m not sure I’m processing it right.

“But talking about gruesome things like that isn’t beneficial to somebody in your state.”

“It’s not like I’m dying _yet_ ,” I complain. “Besides, what do you care? If I die of a natural sickness then you’re off the hook, right?”

He bridles, shifting in his chair.

“Right?!”

“…right.” It takes him a moment. “…but it would be a waste. You did well during the festival this week. Beyond organizing all of it, you also participated. I guess that makes you a hard worker.”

I blink twice, not understanding. “So?”

He shrugs. “It’s admirable.”

 _Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit._ Jeonghan thinks I’m _admirable,_ which in itself is an admirable thought.

“Now shut up and eat or you’ll be late for the award ceremony.”

I give him a cheeky grin. “Can’t you just whip us there magically?”

He gives me the good old glare of death again. “Do you think I’m your personal taxi driver or something?”

“If I thought of you as a personal chauffeur, then _believe me,_ you’d be in a lot more trouble for abandoning me the way you did for so long.”

“Like I said, I had to move some assets.” He shrugs. “I’m buying the apartment next to this one.”

I look up in shock, dropping the chop sticks. “What?”

Jeonghan shrugs again, like it’s natural. “Bunking above your bed is a pain, since I could just put a spell on your room. I need my own place too, and the apartment’s been empty for a while.”

“It’s run-down and infested!”

“What am I?”

I grab the spoon and dig it into the rice. “…a demon,” I admit.

 

“Congratulations.”

I whirl, but can’t help the grin on my face. “Why, thank you. I like to think I did an excellent job myself.”

Jun rolls his eyes at me, but with a grin. “I wonder what we’ll do about the situation now.”

“Hmm?”

“Oh, here. I had noodles at this stall before. You should try them.” He pulls me over to a stall and buys me a cardboard take-out box full of fried noodles, and leads the way to walk through the grounds. “I heard you had the Prefects quite scared for some reason.”

I smile gently, thinking of how sweet DK and Jihoon were. “That’s alright, I spoke to them this morning.”

“What happened?”

“Uh, I was very unwell yesterday, probably from overexertion. I had to organize all of this practically by myself, you know. I had a slight fever.” I grin more when he puts his hand against my forehead. “I’m alright now. I’m sorry for worrying everybody.”

“That’s good.”

I frown a little, eating the noodles slowly and trying not to get them on any of the golden medals around my neck. “What did you mean? About the situation?”

“Well, it will be difficult for us, won’t it?”

“…it will?”

Jun gives me a frown. “Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Since I enjoy your company and you enjoy mine? I mean, it’s not a physical problem, but a human social standard one.”

My head is spinning a little, trying to figure out what he means.

“It doesn’t help of course that every time I see your face I want to pull you into a room alone and…” He suddenly takes a deep breath, looking at me.

Jun looks at me _different_. The Prefects look at me with friendship, and most students with respect. Jeonghan looks at me like I’m just an annoying bug on the windshield of his life. But Jun? Jun looks at me different. There’s a different glint in his eye, a sharper edge on his smile. Jun looks at me like he’s _hungry_. Like he could devour me. For some reason, though, it doesn’t scare me. I don’t get demon vibes off it. It’s more like… more like…

It’s like what people look like in Hollywood movies when they’re about to move in for a kiss.

He’s hungry, but not for food. He has an entirely different kind of hunger for me. One that is rooted deeper in his subconscious, and some six inches lower than his stomach.

It’s a kind of hunger that heats my face and forces me to look away.

Jun finally exhales, like the thought has passed. “Well, anyway. Feelings like that are hard to overcome. Doesn’t it affect you?”

“Me?”

“Feelings.”

I look away and I can’t answer that. The noodle box is hot, stinging my fingertips, but it doesn’t matter. I think Jun is asking me for confirmation if I _actually_ like him and that’s too damn embarrassing to ever admit to.

“Hm. Maybe you aren’t affected. Maybe I need to be more charming. Like this.” He turns to me suddenly and presses his thumb against my lips slowly. “Sauce.”

I groan. “Gross, are you a girlie drama now?”

Jun laughs and we walk on, but he shakes his head. “You’re really not worried about how the situation will become?”

“ _What_ situation?! What will it become?”

He looks at me like I’m an idiot. “Your school has won all the competitions.” He waits. “You won the bet.” He waits a little more. “That means your school now owns mine, and all our students and staff will be transferred to Deck high.”

It hits me like a bomb.

“I’m officially going to be your Mandarin teacher. We can’t be together.”


	18. Still Joshua

The music’s turned off randomly, and the speakers start up.

“Joshua, please report to the Principal’s office. Joshua to the Principal’s office.”

The strobe lights go on again and the music starts up again, so I guess that’s all I’m getting. I just _move_ , grabbing Jeonghan’s wrist on the way.

“What’s he want to see you for?” he roars over the noise of the final party.

I just shrug.

Jeonghan stays a little closer than normal, today. Walks almost shoulder-to-shoulder with me. It’s funny, but it’s really comforting. I’m getting more of a feeling that I’m being protected, rather than stalked by an angry demon.

“Does it really make that much difference?” I ask softly.

“What?”

“Whether I’m dying or not?”

He shrugs a little. “I don’t know. I guess so. It puts me on edge.” He sighs. “Okay, so I guess it’s more than that. I mean… in the end, you _did_ save my life, however unwittingly. And I guess it’s just a pity that yours is shortened.”

“I’m not dead yet.” A new thought comes to me and I gasp, halting right in front of the door in complete, stupefied shock. “You were dying! _Why were you dying? Why were you bleeding so much?!_ ”

At that moment, my uncle slams the door to the Principal’s office open and gives me a hard look. “Joshua. Inside. _Now_.” He glares at me while I go to sit, and glares at me some more before leaning in. “So. I don’t know if you remember this, Joshua, but every five months the school automatically gets all the students’ medical situations in, if students have a llowed their hospitals to do this. It’s so that we can keep a check on students’ progress and help them if they need it.”

“Yes, I know, I oversee it myself most of the time.”

My uncle swirls his computer screen towards me unhappily. “Mind telling me what this is?”

I close my eyes for a moment, exhaling slowly.

“How? Why?” My uncle in the Principal’s chair deflates, all his anger dissipating. He looks at me like I’ve just told him he’s lost a son in war. “Why, Joshua? How?”

I sigh. “I don’t know either.”

“You don’t know either?”

I shrug. “Stage two, this time.”

“God, stage two.”

I think about how ironic is, to use the Lord’s name when there’s a demon outside the door.

“Does your mother know about this?”

“No,” I say slowly.

He gives me a dangerous look. “You _are_ going to tell her, aren’t you Mr. Hong? Joshua? _Jo, shu, ah_?”

I can’t answer that.

“Joshua, you can’t keep this from your mother. She almost died of heartbreak last time.”

“That’s _exactly_ why I can’t tell her now.” My uncle’s already in his early fifties, and greying around the edges. “If I tell her, she will panic. This isn’t for her to know. Not if I can help it. She doesn’t need this kind of pain if it just takes an operation.”

He looks at me long, and testily. “…I heard about your Ovo, too.”

I automatically turn my wrists down. “Oh.”

He’s very quiet for a while. “…you just don’t have any luck, do you?”

I shake my head with a small smile. “No, sir.”

“Well, at least you’re still a Prefect.”

I sigh deeply at that, looking around his office. “Yeah,” I say softly. “This place is all I have. When I leave Deck High… I don’t know what I’ll do. It’s the first place I’ve ever been loved. This is the only support I have. I know I’ll do well in the final exams, I’m not worried about University placement, either. But… I’m scared of being alone after all this. When I stop wearing the uniform, when I take off the tie… who will I be?”

He smiles a little, sentimental like I am. “Who knows? You might find that you’re still Joshua.”

 

“So?”

“You weren’t eavesdropping?”

“I was busy.” Jeonghan shrugs. “What are you in for?”

I look away for a moment. “He found out I’ve got cancer. He was… upset that I’m not telling my mom.”

“You’re not gonna _tell_ her? Dude, I’m a demon, and even _I_ think that’s fucked up.”

“Well, you’re crazy anyway,” I mutter. “Anyway! Coming back to the original point!”

Jeonghan looks me up and down. “It took you seven weeks to wonder why I was dying in the first place? For somebody who is so smart, how can you be so stupid?” He eventually realizes how exactly I’m looking at him, and then mellows down a little. “The truth?”

“The truth,” I demand.

“…I had some gambling debts and uh, I guess certain figures were kind of pissed off I couldn’t pay them off.” He grins at me. “But don’t worry. When you save a demon’s life, it’s like their life is renewed. I got all my debts cleared and all my money taken off me, so it’s not like I can go out gambling again.”

I purse my lips, slowly making my way back to where the party is going on in the gymnasium. “Better not.”

 

“Hey,” he smiles gently. “I heard you were taking a breather.”

“Yeah,” I exhale slowly, turning to him. “I’m glad you came out. At least you won’t smoke.”

Seungcheol chuckles, leaning over the edge of the wall beside me. “What are you doing out here, anyway? And where’s your hellish bodyguard? He’s been sticking really close today.”

I try to smile, but it ends up as a straight line across my face. “He’s got some time off to dance. I just… needed a little moment, I guess. There’s a lot on my plate recently.”

Seungcheol puts a comforting arm around me. “You did well for this week, Joshua. I don’t know if we really showed our appreciation, but… we’re all awed, and extremely happy. Thank you for working so hard.”

I smile a bit. “You, too. Jihoon complained a lot though. Next time, if I give you too many tasks to handle, just tell me. I don’t want another detailed lecture from your witchcraft boyfriend about how he’s not getting your dick on a regular basis.”

He nudges me, making loud noises, and I just laugh.

It’s nice, being with Seungcheol. He’s a bit of an idiot, but I depend on him a lot. He’s normal, human, flawed, annoying, stupid, lovely, caring, and a big old goof. He’s the kind of person who watches _Juno_ and starts crying in the first five minutes. I like Seungcheol. He’s got a real older-brother vibe to him. I feel like I can relax when he’s around.

“Asshole,” he grins.

“Dickhead,” I return.

He’s about to fire back at me when suddenly his head whips away from me, and his eyes blow wide open. He turns to me in obvious panic, hands twitching in front of him suddenly. “Joshua.”

“Seungcheol? What’s wrong?”

“Joshua!” He starts to pull me away from the wall, digging his nails in harshly before he stops in the middle of the courtyard. “No time,” he suddenly hisses, whipping to and fro like he’s manic.

“Seungcheol!” I demand, heart racing for some reason. “What’s wrong?!”

Seungcheol spins a 360 and then turns to me, full-blown panic in his eyes, mingled with a fear I’ve never seen him in before. “No time, here, put this on.” He pulls on the black cord around his neck – the one Jihoon gave him for Christmas last year, with the green stone shaped like a shark’s fin on it. He throws it over my neck like it’s a safety net.

That’s when I see them. How Seungcheol could notice them from far away in the darkness is beyond me, _very far_ beyond me, but no matter. They creep up in the night like ninjas – maybe eight or ten of them, I can’t really make it out. Sly creatures, almost human-form, but with dark-red skins and black, intricate lines all over their bodies. And all of them with different kinds of horns.

They seem to be coming for me, but then they suddenly gravitate towards Seungcheol.

“Run,” he tells me lowly. “Run!”

It’s too natural for me to try and cover Seungcheol, despite what he tells me. I can’t run, anyway. I’m paralysed.

Seungcheol tries to throw me off him. “Run! They’re out to get _you_! Run!”

I just stand there, locked in place, as Seungcheol disappears under a mass of creatures.

 

My arms curl around his skinny, bony little body before I know what’s happening myself. It takes me just a few seconds to realize why nobody’s trying to grab him.

Because _I_ can’t grab him.

My arms keep bending around air, and the glint of green against his uniform is the reason why. “Joshua,” I growl, “take off the pendant.”

“What?” He stares at me in horror, frozen.

I can hear the freak witch working his way behind me. “Joshua, I _need_ you to _take off Seungcheol’s pendant._ Now.”

“But… but…”

“Look at me.” I come in as close as possible, blocking his view, waiting until his eyes are on mine. “I _promise you_ I will get you out of here and _safe_ and Seungcheol will be safe too. But I _need_ you to take. Off. The. Pendant.”

He doesn’t move.

“Please, Joshua!”

Slowly, he pulls on the leather cord and drops it to the ground – I manage to loop it on one finger and throw it to where I know Jihoon will be waiting to receive it before gripping Joshua tight and teleporting, if only a short stretch down the street.

He’s there, waiting with his arms open. “Let me take him.”

“No.”

“Let me take him. I have a safe place.”

“No.”

“You don’t have his house secured yet, do you?”

I bridle. I need to get Joshua out of here. It won’t take long for those second-class demons to catch up, whether they can teleport or not. And Jun is right. I haven’t secured Joshua’s house yet. It was never a necessity. I didn’t think it ever would be.

“We don’t have time for this,” I just growl.

“Joshua. You need to come with me, now, somewhere safe.”

Joshua is shaking in my arms, but he looks up at me with a strange look. A look of fear. A look of sadness. But he also kinda looks at me funny. Like I’ve just become his whole world. Like I’m superman or something. Like I’ve just saved his life.

And it’s funny, ‘cause that’s exactly what I just did.

“I told you, mittens off.”

“We don’t have time for this!” Jun bellows.

And then somebody teleports near-by and I hand the shaking boy over, delivering him into Jun’s hands. “Fifty minutes,” I warn.

The three of us disappear into the night.

 

“Jun? Jun what’s happening?”

“Shhhhh, it’s alright. It’s alright. I know that must have been a shock for you. You’re safe now.”

Light. Cold, white light. It floods a room full of sleek-design furniture with lots of monochromatic pallets, tinges of red slipping through here and there.

“Where are we?”

“My house. It’s secure.”

“What just happened?” My breath keeps hitching in my throat.

Jun looks down at me, and even at this crappy double-chin angle, he looks mercilessly wild. “…maybe you’ll be strong enough to hear it. You were just the subject of a demon attack.”

That doesn’t really sink in.

“Your friend has a pendant that makes it impossible for demons to touch him. Have you ever seen Jeonghan get close to him? No, because he can’t. He knew they were coming, so he put it on you. But once you were out of bounds…”

I want to cuss, but I can’t. All that’s coming out is hackled, loud sobs and broken hyperventilation, which sounds like regular breathing but it’s _not_. And then everything sinks in and drops on top of me – that Seungcheol gave up his safety for me. Just to save _me_ , and all I did was stand there and – and – and!

Jun moves me slightly: he’s still holding my bridal style, but he presses my face against his chest. “Shh, it’s alright now. And your friend will be fine, too. He’s got two angels behind him, after all.”

The idea does hold some attraction, to be honest, but it’s not until my phone goes off and I hear his voice that I can fully relax.

“Hey, Joshua.” He sounds lively. “Listen, are you safe?”

“SEUNGCHEOL.” I have to work not to break down again. “Where are you, are you hurt?”

“My boyfriend is a witch, he’s patching me up. In a few moments, all I’ll have is a couple of paper cuts I got from all the paperwork you gave me, boss. More importantly, are _you_ alright?”

Jun gently puts me down on the couch and casually sit beside me. Our legs don’t touch.

“I’m – uh – I’m, uh, shaken, not stirred. I mean, shaken, but I’m okay. Are you okay?”

He laughs – it’s a free, normal, happy sound. Seungcheol’s a crap actor to be honest, so at least I know the laughter is real. “I’m fine, really. I’m worried about you. Where are you?”

“I’m, uh… I’m safe,” I say in a light tone, giving Jun an anxious look. I have to look away pretty quick though.

“Where?” he demands.

“…Jun’s house. Uh, Jeonghan’s fixing mine, or something.”

It takes Seungcheol a minute. “Listen, Joshua… no offense, but I wouldn’t call a demon’s lair exactly _safe_ , not for you, especially.”

I gulp, my wildly pounding heart slowing down. Seungcheol’s voice has a really reassuring tone to it. I think that’s why Jihoon took a shine to him in the first place. Kid’s always full of stress and tension. “Uh, yeah.”

“…you’re not going to leave, are you?”

“I don’t think so…” I say slowly.

“…Joshua. Please be safe. Text us when you’re home.”

“I will. Seungcheol… thank you. I don’t – I mean, I’m not, I mean I…”

I can hear the smile in his voice. “Cut me from the assimilation team of Deck and Jaehwang and all is good between us.”

“Deal.”

“Praise, my fingers will be saved from any more papercuts. Okay, I’m going to go. Joshua, stay safe. Bye.”

The line goes dead.

It takes me a few minutes before I can take a calm, deep breath, and assess the situation.

That’s when I realize I’m in Jun’s house, sitting on his couch beside him, with his arm slung across the couch’s back just a few inches behind my back.

_We are alone._


	19. A Psych on the Styx

“S-so, uh, um, nice place.”

Jun chuckles. “Something to drink? You need some sugar after a shock like that.” He gets off his couch easily, jumping his way to an open kitchen, and after an awkward moment, I follow. “You don’t have to be so formal, you know.”

“Sure.” There’s an island in the middle of his kitchen, so I just lean on it, watching him easily navigate the shelves for a glass and the fridge for some juice. “It is nice, though. Freezing, but nice.”

“I don’t put on the heat much, sorry.” He points at his chest before pouring. “Internal hell-o-stat. Do you need it on?”

“Nah, it’s not that bad. I think it’s just shock. Thanks.” I take the orange juice, hands still shaking a little, and sip. It’s tart, but it’s not bad, I _think_. It would just be awful for him to have bad taste in orange juice.

Jun leans on the other side of the island, grinning at me as I drink.

“…what?” I mumble self-consciously.

“What, what?”

“What are you looking at?”

“You, of course.”

“Why?”

He lets out a long, loud, wistful sigh, laying his head in his hands for extra emphasis.

I just look away, because _what do you say to that?_

“It’ll be a real problem when you’re behind those miniature little desks with those adorable little glasses calling me _Mr. Wen_. I already have a hard time keeping my distance.”

“Mr. Wen, huh?”

“Shit, that’s sexy.”

I snort a moment, holding my empty glass in my hands. “If you say so.”

“Don’t be surprised if I give you lots of detention,” he grins.

I put the glass back on the counter. “I’m an exemplary student, I’ve never received detention in my life.”

Jun leans forward, more and more until he’s only a few inches away. “You’re blushing,” he smiles. “It’s very endearing.”

“Pi-pick on someone your own age.”

“But I want to pick on you. Or rather, pick you up.” He looks down and then back up, eyelashes flitting. “Joshua, what would you do if I kissed you right now?”

I lean back. “W-what?”

Jun retracts and walks around the island, suddenly coming in close and pulling me in before I can escape, towing both his arms around my waist in a web I can’t get out of. “I said,” he repeats slowly, “what would you do if I kissed you right now? Would you slap me again?”

I’m bent back a little, but only because he’s leaning in so far. So close. “Uh… n-no?”

“No? Would you kick me or hit me?”

I just shake my head a little. He’s close. He smells a bit of apple cider.

And then his lips press softly against mine, and it’s _amazing_. Jun is _everywhere:_ one of his hands is cradling my skull and the other arm is curled around me. I couldn’t escape if I wanted to, and I really _don’t_ want to. His mouth has no taste, just _heat_ , and he’s soft and hot and it’s so pleasant. I’ve got no idea what a kiss is supposed to be like, but it’s _really nice_ all the same.

His thumb brushes by my ear and I twitch, and it’s all over. He pulls away very slowly and surveys me. “You okay?”

I’m sure I’m all red, but I manage not to stutter regardless. “Just, eh, sensitive.”

His sharp eyes slide to my ear and back to me. “Really?”

He brushes his thumb past again and I let out the most embarrassing squeak, jumping a little on the spot before I can cover my mouth with a hand.

Jun smirks like he’s a devil, but not the evil kind, I think. He doesn’t let me go, but moves his hand to join the other on my back. “Good to know.”

“D-don’t tease me!”

“I won’t,” he says softly.

Jun has really thick arms, like strong tree boughs, and they’re so secure around me I feel like I could melt like a popsicle and he’d still hold me up. He holds me close, too, close enough that we’re almost touching at the stomach.

“You’re pretty,” he says, and it almost sounds like a compliment.

“I am?” is all my dumb-ass mouth can reply.

He cracks another devilish grin. “Yeah,” he says. “You’re really pretty, Joshua.”

_What do you **SAY** to that?!_

“Would I be pushing my luck if I tried to sneak another kiss in?”

For a few seconds I wonder whether it would be worth it to act cool and tell him I’d slap him again for overstepping his boundaries. It would be fun to play around, just a little. After all, it’s kind of fun being chased. But I don’t get the time, because he’s kissing me again and my brain scrambles like early Saturday morning eggs.

His hands are on my face again, both of them now, but alongside my jawline and neck instead of near my ears. He seems to move until somehow, I’m braced up against the wall.

He pulls away to let out the teeniest, _tiniest_ little growl. The kind of growl that sinks low into my stomach and makes me want to lose control, just a little. “Joshua,” he murmurs, his voice suddenly very low, “…you’re a very dangerous young man.”

“M-me?” My breath is hard, racking against my ribs harshly. “You’re the demon between us…”

He lets out a growl that sounds more like a feral wolf than anything else before descending again and it feels like being swept away by the sea. My heart can’t keep up and I’m drowning in him, the scent of apple cider, his fingers curling against my skin and the way his lips are on fire to consume me alive. I forget to breathe and it huts but it feels _so good_ that I almost black out from it.

He lets go as suddenly as he had delved in, breathing just as hard, staring at me. “…I liked the way you said _us_ ,” he says, smiling. “That’s my excuse. What’s yours?”

“My… excuse?” I look at him, dizzy. “What do I need an excuse for?”

Jun cracks a wild smirk and just wiggles his eyebrows twice, waiting for me to notice.

My arms are up around his shoulders, fingers curled in his hair.

“Oh, shit.” I unfurl my digits from him and pull my arms down, moving so we’re not face-to-face anymore. I clear my throat awkwardly. “Uh, I’m sorry. I, uh-”

“Stop that,” he mutters angrily, pulling on my shoulder again. Before either of us can get angry, he pulls me in until we’re touching all the way to the chest, keeping me close as he kisses me. Mouth open, amazing.

It’s not as weird as I thought it would be. The tongue. It’s kind of amazing, drives the excitement down further in my stomach, makes my heart beat faster. He’s holding the tops of my arms, and I only notice because they were going to move around him all by themselves.

He eventually releases my mouth again, and we both just stand there, panting for a moment.

“Wha-what… did I do wrong?”

“…nothing,” he mutters, staring at me darkly. “It’s just when you’re so shy… I feel it.” He takes my left hand and presses my palm against his chest, moving it down his body until I can feel his abs. “I feel it here, and it just makes me want to… well.”

He gives me that look again. The hungry one. He looks me up and down slowly, and I’m almost surprised he doesn’t lick his lips then and there. “Very dangerous,” he whispers. “You put me in danger of doing some very intricate things with you. You’re very dangerous to me. Especially when you act like an innocent little lamb.”

“I _am_ innocent, though…”

He holds my face _gently_ , even though the skin of his fingers is slightly rough. It’s a funny feeling. His thumb slides across my bottom lip, and I can’t help it when my jaw drops a little.

“So dangerous… so _inviting_ ,” he mumbles, almost like he’s talking to himself. His thumb presses down slightly, the edge of his nail dipping into my mouth. Then, suddenly, he pulls his whole hand away and takes a few steps back into his kitchen.

I didn’t realize how warm his body was – with him so far away, I’m suddenly shuddering. A strange, different feeling spreads through me, almost like heartburn or acid reflux.

 _So this is what rejection feels like_.

I just stand there for a few moments, trying to come to terms with it while he looks at me with a solid emotionless look on his face.

“…what… what did I do?” I work to make my voice sound slightly less pathetic. “I mean, uh, was I-”

“Sh.” He waits until he’s sure I’m gonna be quiet. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you like that. It’s just that… well, you’re very soft, Joshua. And I’m… not always good at controlling my desires.” He takes a step closer. “I’m used to just reaching out and _taking_ what I want, regardless of the consequences. But I don’t think that will work out in my favor with an innocent, shy thing like you.”

“N-neither do I,” I mumble.

He cautiously takes a step closer and breathes deep. “I don’t want to do anything I’ll get slapped for.”

I frown in confusion. Just being in the same room as this man is dizzying. “I already said I wouldn’t slap you…”

He smiles, and it’s a little more relaxed, less charged with static. “I’m not sure that promise would have applied if I tried to…”

It takes me a moment and then I _jump_ in surprise, like the fucking virgin I am. “O-oh! Oh. Um. Yeah, no. Um. No, yeah. Uh.”

He sighs with a grin again. “You’re not very verbose tonight.”

“Well, I almost became demon chow tonight.” My sarcasm finally kicks in. _Finally_. “I feel like I should be granted a couple of hours off the verbosity, you know? On the account of me almost being murdered, and then almost having to watch one of my best friends sacrifice himself _for_ me. And then having you do… _all that_. It’s a lot for somebody to take in.”

He raises one eyebrow, but he’s still smirking. “All that?”

“All that.” I point to all of him, and then my face.

“Oh. All _that_.” He chuckles, and takes another step closer. “I think I’m a little more in control now. I _promise_ not to molest you. I won’t even _think_ about it this time.”

He leans in for a kiss, but I quickly put a hand on his chest to stop him. “Wait?”

He raises the eyebrow again, grin dropped.

I lean in and very quickly peck his lips.

After a moment of shock, he laughs. “What was that for?”

I curl a mischievous grin of my own now. “I’m now officially no longer personally responsible for the welt on your face and the bruise on your ego. _I_ had to kiss _you_ , remember?”

He laughs more and nods. “Agreed, you’re off the hook. Officially. _Now_?”

He doesn’t wait for me to approve – he just goes for it. Hands on my back, pulling me in inch by inch. Lips on mine, open and warm. The sound of his breath like the sea rolling on the beach in my ears.

_Ringalingaling, ringalingaling, ringalingalingalinga lingalingaling!_

“That’s your phone,” he gasps in between kisses, making my heart stutter in my chest.

“So?” I grin in between pecks.

“You don’t want to pick up?”

 _Kiss me, fool_ , is the only thing I can think. It’s incredibly sensual, the way he holds me. The way he kisses. The feeling of having a warm body _so close_ to me.

But then suddenly he’s pulling away, with a _huge_ smirk on his face, like he just _knows_ how much it’s galling me.

“Hello, you have reached Joshua Hong’s mobile device. Joshua isn’t available at the moment: this is Wen Junhui. With whom am I speaking?”

The voice on the other end is tense. “Give. Me. Joshua.”

My demonic to-be Mandarin teacher extends the phone slightly. “It’s for you, lamb chops.”

It takes me a moment to control my breathing before I can take the phone, easily twirling out of Jun’s one arm. “Hello?”

“It’s Jeonghan.” His voice is a lot clearer with the receiver against my ear. “You can tell the piece of hellcrap you’re ready to be brought home now.”

I pause for a moment. “ _Right_ now?” It’s funny how hesitant my voice sounds.

“So help me if your ass isn’t inside your room in the next sixty seconds,” he warns darkly.

I sigh and hang up on him when Jun’s arms slink around me from behind. “Why couldn’t _you_ get a Concordat with me?” I mumble. “You’re more pleasant than he is.”

“Don’t be like that,” he chuckles, kissing the back of my head. “Do I need to take you home?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright.” And within the blink of an eye I’m on my balcony. “See you, handsome.” And then he’s gone.

Jeonghan’s hands are on me immediately, pulling me into my warm room and closing the door, even though I’m still looking out. “Let me look at you.”

“Hmm?”

Jeonghan’s face somehow seems sharper than the last time I saw him – not even an hour ago – but it’s not a handsome sharp. It’s a drawn, dogged, think kind of sharp. Like he’s haggard and tired and underfed. But he presses me down to sit on my bed and stares at my face intently for a few long seconds before moving my head all angles and checking my legs and arms.

“What are you-”

“Just twenty seconds.” He stands back and looks at my body very intently, up and down, for nineteen Mississippi’s before sighing in relief. “Thank goodness, you’re alright.”

“…Jeonghan?”

“I was so worried.” And for some reason, he puts his arms around my shoulders in a stark hug. “I was so worried. I really, really thought you would get hurt. Either back there, or with him. Thank goodness. I was so worried. You’re alright. You’re alright.”

I frown, but I let him lean his forehead on my shoulder. I even put my arms around him – it only seems natural, kind of. “…yeah, I’m okay. Don’t, uh, don’t worry.”

“Joshua.” He says my name like it’s a holy chant, flowing off his lips. “Joshua, Joshua, Joshua. I’m sorry. I had no idea. I didn’t feel their presence until it was too late. I’m really, sorry. I didn’t mean to put you in danger.” He pulls back so he can see my face and press hair off my forehead.

Jeonghan’s face is full of remorse, and his eyes full of relief. And is it just me, or are his eyes a little shinier than usual?

“It’s, uh, it’s okay. This time. I wasn’t hurt.” I blink a moment, trying to remember past the make-out session in Jun’s kitchen. “Do you, uh, know why they were, uh, after me?”

“Pure soul like you? Chow time all around.” He shrugs and keeps stroking my hair for a few more moments before just squatting in front of me, hands to himself. “I’ll stick closer in the future.”

“Don’t worry. I’m usually with a Prefect, they’ve got me covered. Don’t uh, stress yourself. I’ll do my best not to go wandering off in the night, either.”

“I _would_ appreciate that, yes.” Jeonghan gives me a look of tired relief, a small smile playing on his lips. “Now, it’s late, and it’s time you went to bed. You gonna brush your teeth?”

I nod slightly.

 

I watch him go to the bathroom and lock the door like every single other night, and sit down on the floor for a moment. I’m not even that mad about him being with Jun for so long, though I’m sure it’ll be bothering me by the morning. I’m just happy he’s _safe_ , safe from dark creatures of the night. Or most of them, at least.

The strangest thing – the thing that keeps me awake even as Joshua is sleeping directly under me in my care – is that I’m happy, but not only because it means I’m not going directly to purgatory without passing GO and collecting $200. I’m actually just happy that somebody like Joshua gets to live.

 _I need a fucking psychiatrist,_ I think before closing my eyes. _I wonder if they have one floating on the Styx somewhere?_


	20. Be Beside Me

I spend the weekend making a grand total of fifty-three phone calls towards my prime target, all in vain. The Principal and the other Prefects band together and nobody budges: they spend the entire weekend at school, covering the transition papers for all the students _and_ faculty _and_ refurbishing the long-forgotten dormitory quarters behind the football stadium for students who just live too far away.

And I’m not allowed to help at _all_ except to give Jihoon my password to access my files. It’s safe to say I spend the weekend grumpy and pouty, listening to rainy emo soundtracks on my laptop.

“I hate you,” Jeonghan tells me. He’s been lying on the ground next to my bed for a solid five hours now, throwing a tennis ball towards the ceiling and seeing how many times he can catch it. I think he stopped counting around the three-thousand-and-fifty-something mark.

“I’m perfectly aware,” I grumble back. “You can go and entertain yourself outside if you want. I’m not stoppin’ ya.”

He turns his head to me, and I expect him to be pissed off like he’s been the last fifty times I’ve said it, but this time he’s not angry. He just looks at me with an upset kind of guilt. “Can’t,” he says softly. “What if you get hurt when I’m gone?”

The concern in his voice disarms me a moment. “…’s not like I’m not protected,” I mumble.

“…I don’t want to take the chance,” he tells me. “Hey. Why don’t we play a game?”

“I spy with my little eye, something beginning with Jeong and ending in Han Is So Bored He’s Almost Dead.”

He groans at me and gets up suddenly. “No, seriously. You’re a damp rag and I’m not going anywhere. Do you have an oujia board? Calling up spirits is fun as a demon. They get so pissed off.”

“I do not indulge in witchcraft. Ask Jihoon.”

He sits down, folding his legs under him, sitting up straight. He obviously hasn’t let go of the idea. “Okay, we can, uh… play cards. Do you play poker?”

“I don’t gamble,” I mutter.

“We don’t have to gamble. Just the game would be enough.”

I give him a look.

“Uh, we can pull out the Xbox. You’ve got some neat games. How about-”

“Jeonghan!” I finally bark, losing my cool. “I don’t want to play a game with you! Go entertain yourself if you’re that bored!”

“ _How?!_ ” he shouts back.

“I don’t know, go _jack off_ if you have to, just leave me alone!”

He gives me a single look of resentment and then bullets out the open balcony door to, presumably, go do some demon stuff.

It’s a little more comfortable like this. Sometimes the house just gets so stuffy with Jeonghan so close, and I wish he’d just get his shit together and move in to the apartment next door so I wouldn’t have to be so close to him all the time.

“Hey.”

“…DK!” I jump up and proceed to hit him as hard as possible on the shoulder. I know it won’t hurt him. “How did you turn up on my balcony?”

“I’m an angel, remember? I’ve got _wings,_ remember?” He gives me a toothy grin and puts his arms around me in a warm hug. “I finished up my duties so all is ready for tomorrow. I heard you were having a hard time, so I came to say hi.”

“…hi, asshole,” I mumble, leaning in to hug him back tightly. I press my face into his chest. “How is Seungcheol doing?”

“Oh, he’s fine. Not a scratch on him. Don’t worry. Demons like that are no match for Wonwoo and me.” He just can’t stop grinning. “How about I take you out? I know you’re bored. We’ll go grab some snacks and eat in the park.”

I sigh in relief with a smile. DK always knows just how to make me grin. “I’d like that. Thanks.”

 

The sound of his giggles make me smile more and more. I love the way Joshua laughs. He’s like a fairy, if they existed. He makes me feel light and airy when he laughs. Because as long as Joshua is laughing, then everything is right in his world, and that’s all I want. It’s all I ever wanted to start with. And especially now, now that I know I could get rid of all the demons around him…

Somebody as good as Joshua shouldn’t be surrounded by people like that.

Joshua marvels at my wings and laughs at the feeling of gliding through the air. I have to hold him tightly, and sometimes he presses his face to my chest to breathe right, but it’s great. Joshua holds on to me, and to be honest, the feeling of his arms around me is a blessed one.

We land in an alleyway and his legs are shaky but he’s still laughing, almost hysterically as he shakes it off, walking and squatting here and there to stretch his legs again. “That was amazing!” he beams. “I wish we could have done that years ago. Thanks, DK. It was a trip.”

I can’t help but smile. I love it when Joshua is happy. The happy twinkle in his eye is something I could almost live for. Live _off_. I want it to be there, always.

“Now I just have to buy you ice-cream and you’ll be my slave,” I joke.

“That’s right!” He puts a hand on his heart. “If you buy me ice-cream I’ll be your slave until 10 PM. But then I have to go back home. Curfew. Tomorrow’s Monday.”

I shake my head in fondness and pull him along to the convenience store. _If that ain’t Joshua._

 

DK buys me my ice-cream, taking me as his slave for another couple of hours, and I don’t mind at all. He just puts his arm around my shoulders and forces me to come play in the park with him for a while.

DK’s right. I need this. I’ve been miserable all weekend.

He ends up pushing me on the swings, which isn’t half the fun of holding on to him while he _flies_ , but is infinitely easier to breathe properly on. And to be honest, in my condition I should be taking care of myself, except I’m not, because I made out with a smoker for like, a full half-hour on Friday without even second-guessing it.

“Hey… you know what?”

I slow down so that when he sits in the swing next to me we can talk. “What?”

“I wish we could live every day like this,” he smiles peacefully. “Playing in the park like we used to. Eating junk food. Being happy. It would be really nice.”

I look out to the small pond in the middle of the kid’s playground. “Yeah… it would be.”

“…I don’t like that you’re all grown up now.”

“What? Why?”

“With your Ovo and stuff. It just caused pain. I want to play like we’re kids again. I don’t… I don’t want you to be overworked for school, and your health is shit, too. I just… I want you to be happy, you know? And all of us, together. Like the old days.”

“You mean the old days where you were all lying to me?”

“I _mean,_ ” he emphasizes kindly, “…the days when you had no idea dark creatures like demons existed. Everything’s wrong now. You’re always… beside demons. It’s wrong. You’re supposed to be beside _me_. I want you to be beside me. By _my_ side. So I can protect you.”

I mean to move out and kick him, but I can only get far enough to nudge his calf. “Don’t worry, DK. Jeonghan _has_ to take care of me properly, it’s part of the deal.”

“And Jun?” he demands.

“He wouldn’t hurt me – well, except maybe his kitchen wall would. Besides, pure soul slaps apparently burn demons like a bitch.”

DK sighs deeply, and the sound of it is heavy. “You’re not understanding me. I… I guess I wish there was a way _I_ could be bound to you for all of eternity. And it’s not _just_ because I’m afraid for your safety, Josh, although that is a real concern.” He turns suddenly to frown at me. “Kitchen wall?”

I freeze.

“You were at his _house_?!”

“Well, uh, Jeonghan hadn’t secured my house and I needed a secure place to hang out. I wasn’t even there for an entire hour. Don’t freak out. He didn’t hurt me or anything.”

“Why did his wall hurt? Did he push you?!” Suddenly, he’s _furious_ , and it takes my breath away and makes my heart stumble over a few beats. I’ve never seen DK even close to angry – he’s always smiling, always. To see him angry – no, _furious_ beyond all human nature – is like looking at the gates of hell. His eyes are blown wide but _sharp_ , and suddenly he’s hulking over me, gripping my shoulders. “Did?! He?! Hurt?! You?!”

“N-no!” I yell back. “H-he didn’t hurt me _at all_!”

He stands there a few seconds, not sure whether to believe me before he suddenly sighs in relief, losing strength and sitting in the sand in front of me. “Thank goodness,” he whispers.

“Do-don’t scare me like that!” I yell at him, curling up a little. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“I’m sorry.” He looks up at me in panic and quickly moves to put his arms around me _gently_. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, sorry. I was just – I got so worried. I’m sorry, Joshua. It’s alright, I’m sorry.”

“Ass,” I mumble at him with a grin. “Anyway, I was fine. When I say his kitchen wall is a bit hard… promise you won’t freak out?”

He gives me his signature smile – the one that’s at least 40% pink, healthy gums. It makes his eyes bunch up and it’s so happy, it makes me grin back. “Promise!”

“…it’s cause we kissed and I was up against it.”

DK freezes, almost hilariously, in the smile. “What?” he asks, his voice suddenly deep. It’s a great contrast to the extreme happiness on his face.

I blush and look away. “It was just a little making out… it was nothing.”

Not a single muscle of the grin loses its hold. “You made out?” his deep voice asks angrily.

I pout. “You promised not to freak out!”

He finally lets go of the frozen grin – he doesn’t get angry again, thankfully, but just puts on a tired look as he sinks to sit in the sand again. “…you made _out_ with a demon,” he whispers.

“He’s not just a demon, I wish you’d stop looking at him that way,” I mumble defensively. “He likes me. He says nice things to me. He called me pretty. He’s not as evil as you think, I mean, I know he’s a demon but still. He’s not a threat to me.”

The bitterness in DK’s voice is strong, and tinged with something akin to pain. “ _I_ like you. I would call you pretty. Why do you have to go getting close to a demon when I’m right here?”

“What?”

DK shrugs for a while, creating patterns in the sand with his forefinger. “It just seems unfair. I’ve only had a decade or so of being close to you. I wanted to get even closer. But now you’re spending all your time with demons and us… even the other Prefects, we’re not on your radar anymore. You’re always either thinking of Jeonghan or Jun. Don’t we matter at all anymore?”

I stand in shock. “That’s not true! I _love_ you guys! You’re like family to me! It’s just that things are weird now and I’m still adjusting!”

He shrugs unhappily, still drawing lines. “It just seems that way. Whatever.”

I slowly sit in the swing again, thinking it over. “…with the festival, you know, I’ve been busy. I promise I’ll spend more time with you guys from now on. I’m sorry, I had no idea you guys felt that way. But… you know, Jeonghan and I are a package deal. Where I go, he kind of has to come. So…”

DK looks up at me with large puppy eyes. “Do you mean it? Do you really, really mean it? You’ll spend more time with us?”

“Of course.” I feel my stomach sink a little. “I don’t want to leave you guys or anything.”

“How?”

“What?”

“ _How_ will you spend more time with us?” he demands darkly.

“Uh…”

DK snaps his fingers, and when he does that, I already know he’s had this in his head for a while. The whole idea is pre-meditated. Hell, it might have even been the reason he flew me out today. “I got it. You come live in the dorms with us.”

I blink twice, frozen. “Yes?”

“Well, the four of us are moving into the dormitories, at least for a short while. I mean, obviously, everybody will go home on weekends, but we’ll be staying there to make sure new students get settled in. And of course, you know some of our own students stay at the dorms too, because they live pretty far out or under less-than-ideal home situations. Technically you don’t take care of any one faction of students, but you can move in to our dorm. We’ve got enough room for another bed.”

“Uh, DK, I don’t know, I-”

His face _falls_ , and by the sight of it, it looks like it falls a good couple of miles. “…you don’t want to spend that much time on us, huh?”

“No! No-no-no, of course I want to spend time.” I automatically put my arms around him, sitting with him in the sand. “I’m just… worried about my mom. You know show doesn’t have anybody else at home. She’ll get really lonely without me, and worried.”

DK gives me a look. “Your mom’s menopausal and is always yelling at you, you said it yourself.”

I raise my eyebrows a bit. “…that’s true.”

“It won’t be forever. Just a semester or so? Or just till winter break? _Please_? I… I miss you, Joshua.” His eyes begin to tear up. “I miss you, and you’re always _with them_ , and I want to be by your side instead. I want to be the one to kiss you goodnight and tuck you in, Josh.”

I can’t help but hug him – he’s just so damn _adorable_ and _cuddle-able_ , even though that’s not a word. “Alright, alright, you doofus,” I grin. “I’ll come, if you think the others can live with it.”

“Yeah, Jihoon and Seungcheol are getting their own room together. Nobody wants to be around… that.”

I cringe. “Agreed.”

“So it’s just you, Wonwoo, and me!” DK grins suddenly and tackles me in a hug. “I’m so happy! Thank you Joshua!”

 

It isn’t until later – much, much later, when the sun is turning red on the horizon and Jeonghan’s babbling about enchantments and whatnot – that a series of phrases run through my head, as if my brain feels the need to overwork itself and dig for meanings that aren’t there.

_I want you to be happy._

_You’re supposed to be beside **me**._

_I would like you._

_I would call you pretty._

_I wanted to get even closer._

_I miss you._

_I want to be by your side instead._

_I want to be the one to kiss you goodnight._

 

It’s eleven and dark and freezing outside when I finally manage to grab my phone, ignoring Jeonghan completely as he goes silent in offense, and dial for Seungcheol.

“Hey, asshole,” he chirps the moment he picks up.

“Seungcheol?” Somehow, my breathing’s irregular. “I need your help.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Can you keep a secret? Even from Jihoon and _especially_ from Wonwoo and DK?”

“What’s _wrong_ ,” he repeats, and there’s a sense of authority in his voice. A sense of security, too.

I take a deep breath to calm myself and answer slowly. “Last week, Wonwoo said he was in love with me. And… I _think_ … I think DK might have confessed today as well, and I was too thick-headed to understand it.”

For a moment there’s no sound, and then Seungcheol sighs. “Well, hallelujah,” he tells me. “I thought I was gonna have to take their obsessions to the grave. Yeah, they’re both total jackasses for you. Jihoon’s upset having to hear it so often.”

My lips never move. “ _What_?”

“…yeah, Wonwoo and DK are both in love with you. You never noticed?”

I lose the feeling in my fingers first, and then slowly the world goes black.


	21. Mr. Wen

“Joshua, kid, you gotta stop doing this to me. I thought I was going to die. And I’m already dead!”

“Sorry,” I whisper. “I just – I think I forgot to breathe.”

“Well, you better start remembering right!” The relief on Jeonghan’s face is overwhelming as he backs up a little, rolling his eyes. “I was so scared, I thought my heart was going to leap out, and I don’t even _have_ a heart!”

I cock my head at him, frowning. “Wouldn’t it be better if I died of cancer? For you, I mean. You’re off the hook if I die due to natural causes, right?”

Jeonghan gives me a cold glare. “What? Stop spouting stupid things.” He suddenly waves a finger at me. “Don’t you dare even think of dying! Do you hear me, Hong? There will be absolutely no dying under my watch. No more collapsing, no more regressing, and absolutely no dying!”

I hold up both hands, but I have to laugh a little. “Alright, alright! Good sir! I’ll do my best not to die!”

And then Jeonghan cracks a smile – a real, honest smile, and my heart stops a moment.

Jeonghan is a good-looking demon at best, but when he smiles, all the stress in his face seems to dissolve. A natural austerity that’s in him melts away and his nose wrinkles a little, too. It’s a lovely thing to behold, and I wish it would pop up more often.

Jeonghan laughs at me, and I laugh with him, just because the sound is so nice. It’s so rare that Jeonghan is any kind of nice to me, I have to savour the sound of his laughter.

Jeonghan sighs, a smile lingering on his face. “Seriously though, Joshua. I’ve just gotten used to your nit-picky ways and you’re a secure person, so it’s been easy to settle in for me. Don’t have bad health from now on, alright? I want you to stick around. It’s helpful.”

“Helpful?”

“You keep my mind on track,” he smiles, leaning over to ruffle my hair. “So, just stick around. Alright? Just stick around from now on.”

Jeonghan’s touch is warm. Not like an open flame – more like a thick comforter in the middle of winter. I lean in to it subconsciously. “I’ll do my best,” I say softly.

“…I have a question.”

“Yeah?”

“Did you really not know about those two angels?”

I freeze and then slowly shake my head. “O-of course not… why would I even think of something so absurd?”

“It was pretty obvious to everybody else,” he points out unnecessarily. “They’re head over heels.”

“What do I _do_?!”

He stares at me blankly. “What? _Do?_ Can you change the way they feel? What do you mean, what can you do? Why should you be doing anything?”

“W-well, it will be awkward when-”

“The only one making things awkward is you.”

“You’re despicable,” I mutter, curling up. “You could never understand.”

Jeonghan just rolls his eyes at me for a bit, then comes to sit alongside me, slinging an arm over my shoulder. “There, there.”

“What?”

“Isn’t that what you say when you’re trying to console somebody?”

At first I think he’s making fun of me, but the look on his face is genuinely perplexed – so much so that I break out into laughter, purely from how stupid he looks.

“What? What I do?”

“You! You’re funny!” I chuckle.

He suddenly tugs on my arm, harshly, pulling me over onto my side – I start to rebuke him before I realize he’s got me in a hold, gripping my back and the back of my head. “Joshua,” he mumbles. “Don’t scare me like this again. Stop collapsing. I want you to laugh like this from now on, alright?”

“Wh-what?”

He lets me go a little and gives me a dark look. “I’m telling you, seriously, to get better.”

I nudge him a little with a grin. “My goodness rubbing off you, huh?”

“No way.” He cracks a smile, though. “But I’m comfortable being with you, even though you’re a piece of shit with a crap taste in friends and even worse in boyfriends.”

I can’t help jumping back a little. “He – he’s not my bo- boyfriend!”

“No, he’s a demon, he’d never give you that kind of security, but you suck face an awful lot and calling you a slut is out of the question.”

I give him a dark look. “ _Very_ out of the question.”

Jeonghan looks at me with that sleek, perfect face. “How about you go brush your teeth? It seems to be time for bed.”

It takes me a moment to respond; I was getting too tied up in wondering how he gets his skin so smooth. “Uh, right. Hey, are you gonna sleep in your own house or?”

He looks me up and down. “After a day like today, you think I’m letting you sleep alone?”

I sigh deeply and grab my things to brush my teeth.

 

It’s hard to explain, watching him sleep. Not for creepy reasons, obviously, but shit – the kid’s lungs are dying off, the last thing he needs is a bad case of sleep apnea. If Joshua stops breathing, it’s on me.

But the feeling is hard to explain.

I wasn’t lying to him earlier – I really _don’t_ want him to die, and I really _have_ gotten used to him. Joshua is a very competent, very _grounded_ person when certain demons aren’t around. Is he a workaholic? Yes. Is he an idiot when it comes to trusting demons? Absolutely. Is he a very admirable, capable person? Without question.

On one hand it almost irks me, just how capable he really is. He’s a good person, better than I ever was when I was human, which is annoying, because I thought I was a pretty cool human. Not exactly a _pure soul_ – well, not for very long – but… I guess all that’s behind me now, anyway.

On the other hand, of course, I do _kind of_ look up to him. I’m a demon but I’m not a monster. I know the ways of the world and how it all works, and Joshua could really make it in life. He’s reliable, trustworthy and loyal – a little snappy when agitated, but he’s pure, not perfect.

Yeah. Joshua’s a good kid, and I could definitely have gotten a Concordat with worse people. If only he’d stop falling in love with demons who probably want to suck his soul out of his body and consume it…

He really _is_ falling in love, however much he tries to deny it. He’s too innocent – blush flowers on his cheeks when you point it out and he gets that dreamy, misty-eyed look now and again. He’s also defensive enough to make a world champion boxer think twice about taking him on, and that’s the thing that grills me most, makes me most angry. Is that Joshua really, _really_ is in love with the bastard.

To be honest, even though I’m not Joshua’s biggest fan – not like the glorified chicken with halos – I still think he could do better. Way better. Like, maybe start with staying within his own breed? Human-demon relationships tend not to work out very well, historically speaking.

I would know. Better than most. Better than all, I would know best.

There’s no way a demon-human relationship can work out, and I just can’t figure how to tell Joshua that without getting laughed at, or disbelieved, or something worse. I don’t think Joshua is the kind of person to lead his life based on other people’s mistakes… but I also don’t think he’s the kind of person who can understand the kind of pain a situation like that can bring.

I don’t think Joshua’s ever been in that much pain before. Physically. Mentally. _Emotionally_. Yes, he’s been through hard times, and having to suffer cancer twice – well, I have no idea how that feels either. I’m sure he’s strong in areas that I could never be strong in. But I don’t think it’s the same.

It’s not the same as having your heart ripped out of your chest by the one person you trust most. By somebody you loved, and who loved you, or should have loved you. It’s not the same as putting your life on hold and _at risk_ , and then finding out your life was worthless to that person.

It’s not the same, it’s never the same, and he will never be the same again if he continues this way.

I don’t know whether being around demons causes a different brain functions in humans or something. It’s possible. I never checked with Joshua, mostly because he’s been around angels all his life. If we mess up brain chemistry and they do too, he’s been fucked from the start.

He doesn’t really look different when he’s asleep. His face will always be innocent, blank, pale, and kind of pretty, especially for a guy. And yes, I know how ironic that is, for me to be saying it. The only thing that adds to his face when he’s awake are the large, twinkling eyes that seem to smile at everything, even when he’s angry.

Joshua’s young. He’s so young. The same age I was, back then. Getting himself into trouble, like I was back then. Making the mistakes I made back then.

I don’t care if I’m a demon, or human, or heartless, or doting. I promised myself two centuries ago that I would never let the same thing happen twice, that nobody should have to go through that kind of pain.

If it’s the only good thing I ever do, as human or as demon – if it’s the only thing I _can_ do for somebody like Joshua, then I’ll do it to the fullest of my capabilities.

I’ll protect this boy until it claims my life, or he dies of old age. I’ll protect him, watch him, care for him, and be anything he needs. Because I don’t want him to end up like me. Nobody should have to carry that kind of pain around with them.

I stare at Joshua for the rest of the night, my mind flooded with images of a demon I knew long ago.

 

Somehow, it all manages to work out over the week we have off – with not telling DK I know he likes me, with Wonwoo pretending he _doesn’t_ like me, and packing to live in the dorms for a while.

The only thing that doesn’t really work out when we go back to school, is Jeonghan’s temper.

“What do you mean, _I can’t dorm with him?!_ ”

Wonwoo puts his hands on his hips decisively. “There’s no way we can sleep with a demon in the room – besides, what do you think is going to happen to Joshua with us there? We’re _way_ better at protecting him than you are. The room across the hall is ideal for you.”

Jeonghan looks at me – he’s absolutely furious, almost on fire with anger – and points at my best friends. “Are you just going to let them get away with this?!”

I shrug helplessly. “They’re not _wrong_ , Jeonghan, I’ll be safe with them. And… well, you wouldn’t be comfortable here, either.”

“I _really_ won’t be comfortable if I can’t keep an eye on you!” he yells.

“Jeo-Jeonghan…” I lean back a little. “Calm down. Think about it.”

Jeonghan holds a finger up to me, wagging it, as if he’s about to reprimand me before he stomps his foot, yells _Fine!_ and flies out the dorm room and down the hall.

DK’s hand on my shoulder is the only thing that stops me. “Let him go,” he says softly. “He’s always getting angry about something. He needs a little anger management. A time-out of sorts.”

I sigh and drop to the third bed in the small room that’s reserved for us. “Being with him is a little tiring,” I smile. “This will probably do me a world of good. Thanks for pulling me out here, DK.”

DK grins, all tooth and gum. “My pleasure, but, uh… shouldn’t we leg it? You can’t go to class late on the first day after midterm.”

 

I think I must be an idiot, because I don’t really _think_ about what I’m doing until I’m already stepping into the classroom and he’s _right there_.

He looks different. During the festival he wore simple hoodies and ripped jeans – now he’s wearing dress pants and a crisp white dress shirt, too, first two buttons open. He’s got thin golden frames on too, in horizontal rectangles that just emphasize how sharp his face really is. Hair swept back off his forehead, gelled to stay in place. Pen between his fingers.

He takes my breath away entirely.

“Mr. Hong.” He looks at me over the rims of his glasses, and it’s like he’s meeting me for the first time. “Are you going to stand in the doorway all day and keep your fellow students from joining us?”

“Uh-!” It takes me a moment before I can step in properly and take a seat.

 _Shit. Completely forgot. This guy is my teacher._ I guess I never really thought it through – I never envisioned what it would be like.

Jun is still handsome, as always. Possibly more handsome than normal.

“Joshua!”

I jump. “Yes, sir?”

He looks at me sternly – again, as if I was just a student and he hadn’t been sticking his tongue down my throat last week. “Were you paying attention?”

“…yes, sir?”

“What page are we on?”

“Page?”

He glares at me – full on _glares_ – and harrumphs. “Detention.”

My palms are clammy and my heart is going a million miles an hour. I’ve never had detention before. I haven’t even been reprimanded since I was twelve. I’ve always been perfect. My heart is beating really fast. “Sir?!”

“Is this your last class today?”

“Yessir!” I squeak.

“Good. You’ll serve detention after class. We’re on page 24, if you’d care to flip to that page, Mr. Hong, and read for us.”

I flip to that page immediately and start reading, and he thinks I don’t notice, but I do.

 _Mr. Wen_ just smirks at me from the corner of my eye, and lowers the book in his hands to hide the movement between his hips.


	22. Joshua's an Uptown Girl

“Mr. Hong, where do you think you’re going?”

 _Shit. Got caught._ “Um, I have art club,” I mumble feebly.

“You, sir, have detention.” He glares at me, and then glares at the group of girls lingering in the doorway. “Right now. If you have no respect for my classes, then I dare not have respect for your  
 extracurricular activities.”

“But as a Prefect I-”

“You are first and foremost a student, do I make myself clear?!”

The sound of his voice shakes the ground, he’s so angry – I actually stumble back until the edge of a chair digs into my back. The fire in Jun’s eyes is real – he’s _really_ angry – and it makes the girls in the doorway squeak and run off.

I just stand there, leaning back in shock, as Jun takes swift, long strides to close the classroom door. Then he turns immediately, crossing back over the room, and does the weirdest and possibly most infuriating thing.

He grips my waist with both hands and kisses me.

He’s not difficult to push off, but when I take an impulsive swing he dodges easily this time.

“What the _hell_?!” I yell.

He stares at me in surprise for a moment, and then leans in again as if he’s trying to kiss me a second time. When I lean back, he gives me an affronted, utmost offended look.

“What are you _doing_?!”

He blinks in surprise. “Well, I thought I was trying to kiss you.”

“What the actual _hell_?!” I yell back, face flooding with blood. I feel like I could rip his heart out with my teeth, I’m so angry. “You just gave me detention in front of the _entire class!_ Why the _hell_ would I kiss you?”

He chuckles, and it makes me think he’s the most infuriating creature crawling on the earth. He steals an arm around me again, anyway. “You’re so cute. How else was I supposed to get some alone time?”

“Get off me!”

Jun smiles happily, leaning in closer. “You’re cute when you struggle. Just a kiss-”

“ _Can I help you?_ ” a dark, threatening voice intervenes before Jun can give me another kiss. Jeonghan is standing on my right, arms folded thickly across his chest, and butter my butt and call me a biscuit, but his actual _hair_ is on fire – a thick, red flame that frames his stormy expression.

Jun doesn’t move – he just freezes. “Jeonghan,” he says with some measure of surprise.

Jeonghan gives him a death glare that makes my knees weaken slightly. “You’re holding my Concordat,” he growls. “I’d like it if you could give him back.”

“…he’s got detention.”

“He’s gonna have a new Mandarin teacher if you don’t take your filthy paws off of him.”

Slowly – incrementally – Jun unwinds the arm around me, and for some reason, I rush towards my own personal demon. Just before I get near enough to be bothered by the heat, his halo of fire goes out, and he holds out his arms for me to fold into comfortably. He just pulls me in tightly to his body, and snaps his fingers until we’re in an entirely different corridor.

I realize too late that I’m breathing too hard, and just cling to him as I pant it out.

Jeonghan’s hand slowly comes up to my head and strokes down lightly, cradling my head and waist together. “Shhhh,” he coos softly in my ear. “It’s alright, you’re alright. I got you. You’re safe.”

My fists slowly unclamp from his shirt until my palms are flat on his back and my breathing is back to normal. I press my face against hi shoulder a little more. “Thanks,” I breathe.

“It’s alright. You don’t need to thank me.” Jeonghan doesn’t raise his voice even a little. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“My heart and reputation?”

“Seriously. Did you hurt you?”

“No.”

Jeonghan lets out a relieved sigh in my ear and moves to put both arms around my waist. “Thank goodness. I’m sorry I let that get out of hand so quickly. Next time, let me attend class _with_ you, _please_? I don’t want this to ever happen again.”

I just nod quickly, because right now, there’s nothing I can imagine to be more comforting than this right here. To be with somebody who saved me from… whatever might have happened. And maybe I’m exaggerating, but I feel so _safe_ right now I can’t help it. Jeonghan’s body is warm and large and soft, and I want to curl up against his chest and sleep, because I’m suddenly tired.

“Thank you,” he whispers, rubbing my back with a flat palm. “Feeling better?”

I nod instantly, again. “Thanks for saving me,” I mumble meekly.

“My genuine pleasure.” He doesn’t stop rubbing my back. “Do you want to go home, or do you want to go to art club?”

“Art club,” I mumble. “But… can you come with me?”

“Of _course_ ,” he says, and the tone is as gentle as small ripples in a still lake. “Of course I’ll come with you.”

 

After art club – which mostly consists of Joshua commending them for the work they did at the festival and the art nerds lying around, exhausted – Joshua spends an hour tutoring the first year kids on math and history before finally moving to the Prefect room.

“You work too hard,” I inform him, slightly grumpy.

Joshua swirls in his chair and gives me a soft, happy smile. “I’m content,” is all he says. “I just need to fire off some e-mails and then we can go to the cafeteria and get dinner. Kay?”

“Sure.”

I watch Joshua carefully, trying to discern if he’s moving awkwardly anywhere, or not moving anywhere at all. Because even if Jun _did_ hurt him, Joshua would never admit it, I know that. And the idea of his little body being hurt by a demon is… abominable. Not just because I’d get hurt just as much, but also because Joshua just doesn’t deserve it. He’s already dying of cancer. It’s my job to see to it he survives as much as is physically possible.

He seems to be fine and eventually pushes away from the table. “I’m starving.”

“What’s on the menu?”

“The cafeteria should be offering mac ‘n’ cheese, or pork burgers with all the trimmings.” Joshua gets up and makes it all the way to the door before frowning and turning back to me. “Aren’t you coming?”

I grin and get up. “Yeah, sure. I was just gonna see if you were going to notice I wasn’t following you like a loyal lapdog.”

He ribs me when I get close enough, but not hard. “Ass,” he mumbles with a small smile. “It’s not like I take you for granted. About today… thanks.”

“My genuine pleasure,” I grin widely, following him. “If you’d like me to punch the fucker in the face I’d be more than-”

“That’s alright,” he mutters quickly. “That will be unnecessary. I – I don’t know why I reacted that way. Well, I mean, he gave me detention for a dumb reason, so there’s that, but even so… it felt… _bad._ And when you arrived...”

“Then suddenly you felt safer?” I finish for him.

Joshua just nods curtly.

“That’s alright,” I tell him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “That’s what I’m here for. Saving you from creepy, predatory demons that won’t take no for an answer and are kind of abusive.”

Joshua turns to me, shock plastered all over his face. “That’s not true!” he cries at me, voice suddenly an octave higher than normal.

I lean back. “What?”

“He’s not creepy or predatory and he’s not abusive!”

“Dude.” I raise one eyebrow. “He was literally _gripping you_ trying to _force himself on you._ ”

“It wasn’t like that,” Joshua blushes, looking away quickly. “He – well I guess he just didn’t realize I was upset. He wouldn’t have done it if he understood. It was just a miscommunication.”

“Next _miscommunication_ you have, you’re going to wind up dead on the side of the road with your soul in his _belly_ ,” I fire off hotly. “Joshua, open your damn eyes and take a look at what just happened to you. Joshua! Joshua don’t you dare – Joshua Hong!” I run after him. “How dare you turn and walk away from me?!”

“You worry too much,” the teenager grins at me, slinging an arm around my shoulders in camaraderie. “Relax. It’ll be alright. I promise.”

“Yeah, ‘cause I can’t leave you alone for three minutes with the rat bastard,” I grump back.

Joshua walks openly into the cafeteria, instantly jumping to me when he hears what song is playing lowly over the speakers. He grips both my hands happily, chasseing on the spot, singing at the top of his voice. “-can’t afford to buy her pearls! But maybe someday when my ship comes in, she’ll understand what kinda guy I’ve been! And then I’ll win! And when she’s waaaalkin’-”

“Joshua!” I whine.

“She’s looookin’ so fi-yi-yiiiine!” He goes down to a squat before dancing up again like a psychotic snake. “And when she’s taaaaalkin’ she’ll sayyyy that she’s mi-yi-yine!”

“Joshua-ah-ah!” I whine louder.

“She’ll say I’m not so tough! Just because! I’m in love! With an-”

“You realize you’re the uptown girl in this, right? You’re the nerdy, holier-than-thou-”

“-in her white bread world! As long as anyone with hot blood can, and now she’s looking for a downtown man! That’s what I am!”

“You are the _least_ so-called ‘downtown man’ I’ve ever met.”

Joshua continues to sing along to the chorus but finally lets me go, bobbing his head to the side along with the beat as he queues up for his mac. When the song finally ends, he sighs whimsically. “I love that song,” he grins.

I have to look away _really_ quickly. It’s strange, a strange _feeling_ , to feel like I’ve done myself a disservice by straight-out making fun of the angels. Because I can _see_ it – I can see what the big deal is to them. When Joshua sang and danced like that – with the grin from ear to ear and the twinkly eyes that are so happy they’re almost closed entirely shut. The pure happiness radiating off him. Yeah. I guess it’s cute.

Just a bit.

 

“Do you _have_ to be in our room?”

“Do you _have_ to separate us?”

“You want to cool it, fire-boy?” DK turns. “Joshua, can’t you get rid of the vermin for once?”

“Hey!” I scowl. “Leave me out of it! Can’t you all just pretend to get along for a while?”

“No!” all three answer.

“Well that’s just plain stupid,” I tell them, and without another word, DK and Wonwoo stalk off.

Jeonghan watches me glare at the door for a while before patting my shoulder awkwardly. “There, there.”

“Shut up, freak,” I mumble. “It’s your fault they’re gone!”

He sighs heavily at me and then suddenly throws his arms around me. “Don’t be mad!”

“… _bro._ ”

“Hey, listen, what are you doing tomorrow after class anyway?” Jeonghan straightens out like normal and goes to re-tie the elastic around his hair. “You have a thousand obligations?”

“Well I’ve got chem club, but I don’t tutor, but I’ve got a ton of paperwork and then homework, but I think I’m going to work ahead tonight anyway.” I put down my pen in the fold of the geography book in front of myself. “How so?”

He leans in to me a little. “Wow, that’s _all_? Well, your whole day is practically cleared! It’s amazing!” He looks up to give me a death glare before returning to the hair struggle. “Joshua, in your condition, you need to start taking it easy. You can’t be busy literally every single day, you’re going to drop someday, and I won’t be there to catch you.”

“I resent that,” I sniff proudly. “Just because I’m sick doesn’t mean I can slack. I need to do the things I do. I mean, I can give the other Prefects a _little_ more on their plates I guess, but I don’t want to overload any of them. You know? I don’t work hard for the sake of working hard, you know. I work hard because I have to, and because… well, if I don’t have Deck High… I guess I don’t have anything.”

“Joshua,” Jeonghan glares prettily, “you’re not just _sick_. You have _cancer._ You are, at this minute, dying.”

“Aren’t we all slowly dying?” I mumble.

“That’s not fair! I’m supposed to keep you alive as much as possible! And if I let you overwork and stress yourself out, then I’m still responsible, you know? So get your act together and start relaxing.”

I sigh and make a face, my thoughts returning to Jun for the umpteenth time tonight. It’s not fair that he pulled such a dick move, and it’s so damn distracting.

“I guess you’ll never relax, no matter how much I tell you to,” Jeonghan mutters, sounding a little passive-aggressive about it. “Nobody listens to the smart guy until it’s too late and it’s _ooh, wish I had listened to Jeonghan!_ ”

I roll my eyes. “Well, if you say so.”

“Whatever?”

“Hey, why did you want to know what I’m doing tomorrow anyway?”

Jeonghan looks up, and smiles. “Let’s skip tomorrow’s homework, and go out on a date instead.”


	23. Eager

“I can’t believe we’re out instead of doing homework,” he whines a little, gripping onto the bus. “What time is it?”

“Shut up,” I tell him with ease, “and enjoy the damn potholes, okay?”

Joshua pouts enormously but gracefully shuts up and grips the handlebars of the bus harder as it slingshots over potholes and small stones in the road.

I have to smile, even if it’s just a little. Joshua is kind of adorable when he gets all upset and pouty like that – it’s fun to tease him, like pestering a small kitten by the side of the road. He gets so damn haughty, it’s hilarious.

“How much longer?” he gripes.

“Just a few more stops, hang on,” I grin patiently.

I’m in charge of Joshua’s wellbeing, and if I decide to take it upon myself to be responsible for his _mental_ well-being too, then a trip out every now and then is an absolute requirement, even if it _does_ mean he squabbles about not calling it a ‘date’ for forty minutes until I give in.

When he finally alights on the pavement he seems to sigh in relief before simply following me down the street. “Where. Are. We. Going?” he whines.

“It’s a secret,” I repeat for the umpteenth time.

 

There’s a brown-and-black one that comes right up to greet us, and we’re urged to shut the door quickly; there’s a big rust-colored one that’s seen a few fights and only has one eye at the till; there’s a few milling around between various tables and chairs, too. There’s a small black one with huge, dark eyes alighted on a high beam overhead, and three of them chasing a beach ball on the other side of a small redbrick wall in the middle of the room.

“…a kitty café?” I ask him bluntly. “Really?”

“You’re not allergic to cats,” Jeonghan grins.

“I’m a dog person,” I deadpan.

“Yeah, but you’re allergic to dogs, so that’s a bad idea. I promise this will be fun. Sit down and take a look at the menu, alright?”

I grumble under my breath but I do eventually plonk down in a chair across from Jeonghan and take out the menu, scanning it. We ate earlier at school, so I just look down the sweet treats menu.

Jeonghan waits for me.

“Have you been here before?”

“Yeah, I come here sometimes,” he grins dazzlingly. “I love cats. Most demons do. It’s a demon _thing,_ I think. Cats don’t mind us, either. Well, some of them.” He eyes me. “Didn’t you ever see _Black Butler_?”

I raise an eyebrow. “Mainstream anime fiction? That’s what you’re based on?”

“No, but it’s based on us. Where do you think it came from anyway? Oh! Hello beautiful!” I watch as Jeonghan suddenly bends down and pulls a very large, pure white cat into his lap. “Oh, look at you!” he coos, as if it’s a damn baby. “Look at this cute little muffin! Who is the _prettiest little kitty_? It’s you, that’s right! It’s you! Ouch! Aww, it’s alright, that was my fault, I’m sorry.”

I glare at the bright red mark down Jeonghan’s cheek from where the cat just mauled his face.

“That’s Angelica,” our waitress grins, suddenly appearing. “She’s a bit feisty. She seems to like you though.”

“I love her,” Jeonghan grins happily.

She turns to me. “You’re not a cat-cuddler?”

“My friend doesn’t really like cats, or so he thinks,” Jeonghan jumps in before I can. “I was wondering if you have a really mellow, cuddly cat so he could realize his inner potential?”

She laughs and curls a tuft of hair behind her ear, making it extremely obvious that she’s flirting. The sight of it is awkward, and a little bit gross. “Sure, I’ll go see if she’s awake.”

Jeonghan waits until she’s gone and then leans over the table. “Joshua.”

I stare at the blood on his face. “Yeah?”

“Come on!”

“What?”

“Lick it!”

“…you’re kidding, right?”

“Quickly, before she comes back!”

I panic at his tone and in a wild flurry of emotions, I lean in and lick the scrape on his face.

 

Okay. Admittedly, the kitten plopped in my arms is kind of cute. It’s black all over but for a white point on its tail, and it just lies in my lap staring up at me. When I go too long without giving any attention, it gently holds a paw up and pads it against my chin.

Jeonghan watches me, wolfing down his cheesecake with a shit-eating grin. “Enjoying yourself?”

“Shut up,” I mumble, gently stroking the cat’s head with a forefinger. Okay, yeah, I’m enjoying myself. Quite a bit. But I’m not going to tell _him_ that.

“Eat your cheesecake,” Jeonghan mutters, pointing at my untouched dessert with his fork. “If you leave it too long, it’s not going to be there anymore.”

I look around. “Is a cat going to eat it?”

“Am I a cat?” he grins.

I roll my eyes. “You can have it, I’ll get fat if I eat it anyway.”

“Joshua, you’re a beanpole. A lollipop with arms and legs. Please gain some weight.” Jeonghan pushes the plate towards me. “I’m not kidding here, Hong.”

I look down at the cat slowly falling asleep in my arms. Okay, yeah. It’s very cute. “…fine.”

 

The moment Jeonghan sees him, smoking at the entrance, he freezes in his tracks. The normal expression on his face turns to something that I’ve never seen before.

It’s like looking at death.

There’s no other way to describe it. His eyes go black – pitch black, lifeless black, _soulless_ black, however ironic that is. His face flattens out, pale and bleak but _hard_. It’s like every curve of his face just became brick.

It’s a cold look, a look of intended cruelty, a look that displays… a lack of humanity.

And then he’s gone – leapt like a wild cat at him, snagging the little white cylinder from between his lips. “You fucking monster,” he hisses, eyes wild. “Don’t bring smoke anywhere _near_ him!”

Jun pulls himself up to his full height with a casual, unaffected slowness, and gently presses the toe of his shoe onto the smoking stub. “ _Make me,_ bitch.”

“When you two are done comparing dick sizes,” I mumble uncomfortably, staying slightly out of physical range, just in case either of them feel like slapping me. When they stop and turn to me, I look Jun up and down awkwardly, trying to keep my distance – physically _and_ emotionally. “You want something or…?”

“Yeah. I-” He glances back at Jeonghan – who is still _kind of_ up in his personal space – and nods his head. “Think you can call off your hound here?”

“You wanna-”

“Jeonghan.”

The demon gives me a quick glance before turning away, but turns back very quickly. “Joshua? You look tired.”

I blink slowly at that, and he’s at my side in a hot _second_. One arm around my back, one hand holding my arm.

“Joshua,” he says quietly. “Are you okay?”

I nod. “I’m just – tired. I guess. It’s been a long day.” I purse my lips at little at Jun, but there’s no real venom in my voice. “Make it quick.”

Jun glances between us a couple of times before answering. “I just wanted to apologize for today. I guess it didn’t really work out so well. I won’t make that mistake again.”

“Damn straight you won’t.”

He gives me a semi-pleading look. “Please, Joshua?”

I sigh and close my eyes for a moment. I feel like gravity has slowly increased over the day and I’m really not okay with feeling like I’m dripping with lead. “Sure,” I give in. “You’re forgiven.”

“Yes!”

Jeonghan’s hands become a little harder on my skin.

“Don’t think this makes me like you,” I mutter weakly.

“You don’t mean that,” he grins. With his next blink, his eyes seem to glow red. They’re not like Jeonghan’s – no, nothing like Jeonghan’s. Jun’s eyes are a little more orange, a little less consistent in color, too.

“Joshua,” a warm voice mumbles in my ear. “You need to rest.”

“Yeah,” I answer, noticing how breathy my voice has become.

“You have class tomorrow morning,” Jun reminds me. “Don’t you dare skip.”

I just wave my hand as Jeonghan turns me around in his arms and marches me to bed. We’re in the dark hallways, shuffling almost silently, before he asks.

“You think you can pretend to be alive for twenty minutes so that your angel buddies don’t rip me in two halves starting at my ass?”

I grin a moment. “Yeah. Hey, Jeonghan?”

“Yeah?”

“…thanks.”

 

Sleep has done miracles for Mr. Hong, that much is obvious. He’s got a glint in his eye, he’s sitting up straight without trouble and he’s not drooping.

I was seriously kind of scared last night. He looked like his skeleton was just slowly disintegrating on him. I thought he was going to fall down in a pile of human mush, but he seems just fine, now. He’s laughing at DK’s jokes and ruffling Wonwoo’s hair and making them eat more food for breakfast.

It’s a little nauseating, to watch him so happy, but it’s a weird kind of nauseating. My stomach is super unsettled, and I guess it’s just because happiness and angels are against my demonic nature, yet I can’t seem to look away.

I guess I’ve just really gotten used to the way his big eyes glitter when he’s excited – how his skin glows in overhead lighting, how his neck curves and arches a little, now he laughs. I guess that’s just it. I’ve seen it lots. No biggie.

The witch sits down next to me with five cups of coffee, and his presence makes my hair stand on edge. I _really_ don’t like witches. They do some freaky stuff. They _see_ some freaky stuff.

He takes the cups of coffee like they’re vodka shots and he’s planning on getting wasted as soon as possible. He puts down the third cup before turning to me. “So, when are you gonna start?”

The table goes eerily quiet.

“Start what?”

“Start digging through Joshua’s family tree.”

I flinch back a little in surprise. “How the _hell_ did you know that?”

“Yeah, ‘cause you’ve been wondering if there was a connection between your human life and the Hong family, right? Despite there being a zillion Hongs in Korea.” He shrugs, reaching for the fourth cup. “I snooped last night. Anyway. Doesn’t matter. You can start in the official records in the state library.”

I make a face. “Fucking witches,” I mumble.

Then I realize the entire table is staring at me.

“What?”

Joshua twists his head slightly. “You want to look through my family history?”

“It’s nothing. A curiosity. I guess I’m looking for somebody.”

“Who?”

“None of your damn business,” I snap back.

Slowly, the witch slides a cup of coffee at me. “You need this more than I do,” he mumbles.

Nice.

 

“ _Eager_ are we?”

I have to ignore Joenghan. Mostly for his own good. Because yeah, I’m skipping to Mandarin class. I’m in a good mood. And okay, it _might_ be because I’m looking for a real apology while I’m awake enough to get one. And once I get it… I guess I’ll get to enjoy another kiss. And Jun really _is_ an _excellent_ kisser.

I rip the door open, and freeze.

 

Joshua slams the door harshly, enough to shake the frame of the walls around, and stands over it. “Sorry guys!” he calls out to the other kids waiting to get into Mandarin. “Mr. Wen is out sick so he won’t be teaching today! You all have a free period!”

This goes down famously amongst high-fives and happy whoops, but it’s not until all the happy students are dispersed that I notice what he looks like.

Joshua’s pale, shaking, and sweating. Then he lurches towards a near-by trash can and gags for a couple of seconds, horrendously, before standing a little straighter again.

“Are you okay?!” I don’t realize I’m panicking until Joshua puts his hand on my arm. “Are you alright?! Joshua!”

He nods, but the look in his face isn’t happy. So I simply march, and rip the door open.

Right there, across the teacher’s desk, Jun is having sex with another demon.


	24. Take Care of You

Apart from the initial shock, I’m not personally bothered by walking in on two butt-naked demons having really harsh anal sex with each other. It’s not that big of a deal, on that level. Happens all the time. A dude has needs. I figure that.

It’s the utter disgust running through me that they are doing this in a _school_ , in a _classroom_ where _children_ are every single day. And what really makes the taste in my mouth so vile and bitter is the inherent disloyalty that is usual amongst demons.

It’s that Jun made Joshua believe that he was special, and was lying out of his goitre.

Jun slows down when he sees me, coming to a halt, the young demon under him moving to look at me upside-down.

“Jeonghan,” Jun smiles. “Want to join us? I’m sure Hao wouldn’t mind getting sucked.”

I fold my arms unhappily. “You want to explain what you’re doing? You want to explain this to the Head Prefect?”

Jun freezes, thinking it over. He obviously hadn’t thought about that. “Aha, I see.”

“Get your damn cock out of him, Jun,” I mutter tiredly.

“Can’t.” And unbelievably, Jun starts up again. “Or I’ll have a boner for the rest of the day, man. Sure you don’t want to join?”

I shake my head in amazement. “You make me sick!”

 

“Thanks,” he says _again_ , sipping his water weakly.

“Cut it out, you don’t need to thank me a thousand times.” I gently stroke my palm over his hair. “Are you okay?”

He gives me a weak smile and I squirm uncomfortably.

“Do I look okay?”

“You look like an angel just crapped you out on the sidewalk.”

“Very eloquent. Nice.”

“I know, right?” I give him a quick once-over, standing back so I can see his insides properly. He seems to be alright, but for the hormone imbalance, and that’s expected, I suppose. Then I just go back to stroking his hair gently. “…I don’t know what to tell you,” I admit quietly.

“Can you just – just um, talk about something? To take my mind off it.”

I make a bit of a face at him. “What kind of cinematic release-ass story can I tell you to take your mind off _that_?”

“Just _anything_ , please,” he mumbles, wiping sweat off his forehead.

I consider it for a long moment, because I can only think of one story, and I don’t want to tell it.

“Please?”

“Do you…” My voice goes really quiet. “Do you want to hear about how I became a demon?”

He blinks in surprise, but then nods.

 _Well…_ shit.

 

Jeonghan sits in the chair opposite me in the nurse’s office and moves to take the elastic from his hair before binding it up again out of his face. “It’s… I guess it’s been a little over 200 years, now. I say 200 ‘cause it’s easier. I don’t really remember. You forget things after a century or so. When you’re bound to the realm of demonic evil for all of forever, time tends to lose its meaning.”

It’s funny. Jeonghan’s telling a story, and when he tells it, his voice changes. It’s a little softer, a little… wispy, almost. Like he’s bringing out whispers from a past long forgotten, a time that history didn’t take notice of. He slumps over a little more in his chair, and his eyes become unfocused, as if they can see into his past.

It’s a little eerie, but very calming. He’s quiet, and Jeonghan is _never_ quiet: there’s always a restlessness about him of devil’s eyes darting and shoulders hunching, but now he’s still as a statue.

“So… I guess, it was really simple. I was born the illegitimate son of a royal chef – born of his slave – but his own wife never bore any children, so I was the only boy. Because of that, he had to make me legitimate and give me an education. So I learned the classics, Confucius, poetry, arts, politics, history… all under the watchful eye of the madam of the house. And she wasn’t the type of lady to take things lightly. I got beaten a lot. I guess that’s what happens when your husband starts paying too much attention to somebody else, knocks her up, and decides that the baby is more important than you. Anyway.

“I was fifteen when I was chosen to be part of the Royal Guard. My fighting skills were excellent despite my age, and I was lithe enough to make an impression, but I didn’t do very well, so within a year I was training to be a royal chef like my father. That was alright, I guess. The problem was one of the royal guards I met just a few days before I left. His name was Kim Mingyu.

“He was… good-looking. To say the least. The _very_ least. And to my eyes, the most good-looking. He was tall and slender but very strong, with dark hair and dark eyes but a handsome smile and good posture. And good teeth – good teeth were hard to come by in those days. Anyway, he was… a scallywag and a scoundrel, but the cute kind. I was young. I guess it was natural to feel that attraction.

“In his defence, he did well in holding off. He kept reminding me I was very young, and that he wasn’t interested in me, and kept sending me away. But… I wasn’t that kind of kid, back then. I was stubborn and foolish and I was just a child. Just a very, very young child. I didn’t know anything. It’s actually kind of hilarious how little I knew back then. About me, about the world, about the way things worked… eventually, Mingyu gave in. I was so infatuated with him. I wanted to watch him the whole day, if I could. Watch him smile and laugh… listen to him talk… I was really, really in love with him. And I guessed he was in love with me, too.

“When I was seventeen I got my Ovo. I expected it to say Kim Mingyu. I was so sure, you know? You just _know_ , when you see somebody and it clicks. But… his name never showed up on my wrist. It was somebody else entirely. When I asked him… I guess it was the first time I noticed he didn’t have one.

“He told me like he expected me to leave him. That he was a demon, a denizen of hell; always was, and always had been. That that was why he didn’t want me falling in love with him. And I was… kind of okay with it. I mean… we were living in difficult times back then, especially when you live in a palace – sorcery and intrigue aren’t to be taken lightly, you know? But as long as it was kept between us, it was fine.

“But… it didn’t stay fine for very long. I had this random person’s tattoo on my wrist and I was scared that he would be lurking around every corner, and I’d have to say goodbye to Mingyu. We made out in-between meals and we met each other at night shifts and… it was exhilarating. I’d never been so happy. It’s… indescribable. He held me like I was his everything, he kissed me like I was sunshine… and he was a dork. He wasn’t as cool as he seemed on the inside, either. He was lovely. He was really lovely. And eventually… I begged him long enough for him to Concordat me. So that I could stay by him and heal him. And it was the best year of my life.”

Jeonghan stops and looks down a bit. “Part of it is my fault. I shouldn’t have been so quick to judge, so hot-headed. But I was just a teenager, I guess. I wasn’t thinking straight – thinking of relevance, and importance. In fact, I wasn’t thinking at all. When your heart is that _broken_ – and when you’ve been let down _so_ hard, disappointed _that_ badly… well, how should you react? Is it normal to be thinking it through? It wasn’t for me, for sure. So when I found out I-”

“Found out what?”

“…found him screwing somebody else, of course,” Jeonghan murmurs quietly. “I… I rushed in and cut his tail off. Ran all the way to his superior’s office… and I just… put it on the table. I just condemned him. Just like _that_. I didn’t think about it at all. I was so angry. I was so _upset_ , I was so angry, I couldn’t even believe it. It all happened so fast – _so_ fast – that it was just a blur. He was dragged away, tail still bleeding. Locked up like an animal.

“I went to visit him when it was night – after the interrogations and all. When it was dark and his eyes glimmered. He just looked at me with so much _hurt_ and _pain_ , all my anger… melted away. He’d only cheated on me – I… but I… I sentenced him to death by torture. He looked at me and he _cried_ , and you know what he said to me? He looked me in the eye and said _Jeonghan, this is going to hurt you. This will turn you into a demon, like me. Don’t you know that?_

“But I knew. I knew from the beginning that revealing him would call for his death, and if that was a direct result of _me_ then I would be doomed, too. But I couldn’t get the image out of my head. Of him hunched over somebody else, holding them in his arms… it was too much. I was consumed. I think I was already turning into a demon. I told him… that I loved him, and I hated him. And he just smiled and said _I know. Sorry._ It was so like him. So like my Mingyu.

“I sat outside his cage all night, just staring at him, and him staring back. And there were moments I despised myself – more than I thought was ever possible. Moments I wished I could rip my heart out of my chest and end it before I had to see him in pain. And then there were moments that I wished I could get in there, so I could kill him myself.

“I wasn’t allowed in the courtyard when they strapped him down and began their torture. But I could hear his screams. I could hear his screams. Everybody could. He screamed my name _over,_ and _over,_ and _over_ again. _Jeonghan_ was the only thing on his lips, until he stopped making sound at all. And then… my time was up.”

 

I have to close my eyes against the strong memories. The smell of the straw in Mingyu’s jail, the look of his dishevelled hair as he stared at me in the moonlight. So long ago, and yet… not long enough to forget the horror of it all. Of what I did to him. _Why_ I did it to him. I can remember the scent of lavender that was strong in the air the next morning, the bruises on his face when he was dragged out at dawn. I remember the shrill, deafening screams of my name, over and over through the crisp air. I remember writing a letter to my father, explaining why and how I had to leave him. I remember the pain riddling through my body like hot plague. I remember how radically my life changed in twenty-four hours.

Suddenly there’s darkness for a bit: before I know it, Joshua has his long, lanky arms clutched around me, and he’s _sobbing_ , entire body heaving and shuddering with the effort. “Jeonghan!” he blubbers loudly, hiding his face behind my shoulder as he presses his chest to mine. “Jeonghan! I didn’t know it was so sad! I didn’t know you had to go through all that! Jeo-heong-heong-heonghan!”

My arms automatically snake around his waist, holding him gently. I’m pulled right to the present, where none of that _matters_ now, and I’ve got Joshua crying for me. “H-hey,” I stutter bewildered, “wha-what’s all this?”

“I’m – I’m sorry!” Joshua sniffles, squeezing me tighter. “You had a really bad time!”

My hands rub his back up and down slowly. “Tha-that’s alright… you don’t have to cry about it. Silly.”

“But!” He comes up, almost as if he’s searching for air, and his _entire_ face is blotched red. “You’ve been carrying a burden like that for so long! I wish – if I had known! I would have made it easier on you! I don’t like it if you’re still hurting over it!”

I have to chuckle lightly, using my thumbs to wipe his sweet tears away. “Hey, don’t worry about it, Joshie. Don’t cry anymore. After all, all of that is over now, and I’m leading a new and different life, right?”

“Being a – a Concordat demon! Must – ust me so! So hard – hic! – for you!”

“Joshua, calm down.” I make him sit in my lap like a child and pull him in for a hug that he needs more than I do. I wrap one arm around his middle and let the other gently stroke his hair as he curls up in the foetal position. “There, shhhh,” I mumble, smiling a little despite myself. It’s kind of cute that he cares _so much_. “It’s all going to be alright. You don’t have to cry for me anymore.”

Joshua reaches out for my hand where I caught a splinter this morning and whined about it for a solid eight minutes. Then, very carefully, he pulls out the small piece of wood between his perfectly manicured nails, and gently presses his lips to the wound, licking it to healing in the process. Very quietly, he strokes my hand a little before putting his head on my shoulder. “No more,” he says quietly. “No more secrets like this. No more life-or-death secrets between us. You have to tell me everything. Even the things that hurt. So that I can take better care of you. Alright?”

“I’m the one that’s supposed to-”

“Alright?” And he looks up at me with such a blessed, bright, innocent, wide-eyed look that I forget to breathe a little. “Let’s take care of each other from now on. I’ll come and make you hurt less whenever you need to. No more whimpering in your sleep at three AM. No more weird looks from the corner of your eye. No more. I want to take care of you if I can.”

I can only stare. “Why?”

He shrugs, as if the answer is too simple. “Because you’ve been through a lot, and you deserve it.”

It’s funny, how pure souls work. One moment they’re annoying little sinless pillars of joy, and the next they’re digging straight into you and getting under your skin. They want to take care of you, as if you’re a stray puppy off the streets or something. They want to be caring mother figures.

And it’s funny how, I almost want that too. Aside from the obvious upsides there are to _not_ having Joshua hate me, it would just… be _nice_. It would be _nice_ if Joshua and I were a solid team.

He shuffles in my arms a little to tug very gently on a strand of my long hair. “Jeonghan?” he whispers.

“Yeah?”

“Will you… will you take care of me, too?” He bites his lip and looks away. “Even though it’s nothing like what you experienced… I think my heart is still hurt.”

I look at him.

Joshua is sometimes like a cat himself, with his egregiously long and slender neck. A bit like one of the smaller wild cats. Long, slender, lithe body. Even though he has perfect posture, there’s something… _slinky_ about him. Like a cat.

I love cats. I think cats are great.

I think about the name that was burned off my wrist so many years ago, and I wonder if the boy in my lap is their great-great-great grandson. I wonder if all this has had a _purpose_ in it, maybe: that if I couldn’t be with my soulmate, that I should at least watch over their precious family member.

I wonder if my story really hurts him the way it seems to – the way it ignited a fire in his eyes. I wonder how hard he took the news of Jun’s infidelity, to dull his eyes out and eradicate my favorite twinkle in them.

I wonder if I can do it without going crazy – being tied to this one person for the conceivable next seventy years. I wonder if it will be easier when Joshua looks at me with his eyes full of confidence, full of trust. When Joshua looks at me like I’m the only stable thing in his life, like I’m the only thing he’s got left in the world – can I handle that for all the coming decades he will live?

Will I be able to handle this expression in his eyes when he’s in a hospital gown, before a mask is taped over his face and his body sliced open?

“…I’ll take care of you,” I promise him quietly, leaning in. “I’ll take care of you until the end, Joshua.” And to prove it, I seal it with a kiss on his forehead.


	25. I Need Him

The Prefecture room is absolutely buzzing – the crowd outside it is thick and dark, making me wonder what the _hell_ has happened in the thirty minutes after class to create the chaos. When I clear my throat it goes eerily silent, and I’m admitted to the entrance.

My uncle, DK, Wonwoo, Jihoon and Seungcheol are inside. Jihoon’s sitting down, face covered with one hand – his boyfriend stands behind him, hands on his shoulders. DK is glaring at the floor angrily, and Wonwoo is straight up _shaking,_ papers in his hand. Our principal is just going a little limp.

“Uh,” I interrupt, Jeonghan behind me. “What’s up?”

They all look at me – two angels with anger, two men with upset, and my uncle in defeat – and I already know what’s happened.

“You didn’t.”

Wonwoo slaps the papers in his hand down on the table. “YOU HAVE FUCKING _CANCER_?!” he screams.

I flinch back, swivel on one heel and smile at the crowd outside. “Excuse us everybody, this is something the Prefects will discuss internally.” I close the door quietly on them and sigh. “Wonwoo, not in front of the students.”

“Who the _FUCK_ cares about the _STUDENTS_ right now?!” he bellows. The sound of his anger makes me search for Jeonghan’s arm so I can grip it. “You have _CANCER,_ you dumb fuck!”

Jeonghan moves to hold my hand tightly, closing in on my side. I can tell he’s _itching_ to speak, but he won’t.

“How could you not tell us?” In a way, DK’s anger is worse, because he keeps it all bottled up inside. He knows he’s a walking ray of sunshine, and when he gets angry, it builds up inside. Quiet, disappointed anger is way worse than Wonwoo’s fury. “How could you keep this to yourself?” DK won’t even look me in the eye. “How long have you _known_?”

I turn to my Uncle, but he’s avoiding me at all costs, makes a quick excuse, and leaves the room.

“Don’t be angry,” I try.

“How? You tell me how.” Wonwoo points at the papers angrily, taking a threatening step closer. “Tell me how to not be angry about this!”

“By calming down, in the first place,” I try to reason.

“Oh my G-…”

I didn’t realize DK’s fists were balled, but now I can see the tendons in his arms, highlighted with the pressure. “You tell me,” he mutters, “how I’m supposed to follow and trust you… when you’ve been lying to us the whole time? How are we supposed to function as your guardians, your friends or your Prefects if you don’t tell us something _this_ important?”

“It wasn’t like that,” I try to explain. “Please don’t be angry. Let me explain.”

“I _can’t,_ ” Wonwoo breaks out. The sound of it is so _pained_ , warbled and _broken_ , I flinch back again. “I can’t not be angry. I can’t do it, Joshua.” The look he gets me is so full of grief, so full of _pain_ that I can’t look him in the eye for long. “I have to get out of here.” And then he and DK are gone, vanished with their angelic powers.

Jihoon looks at me with a sad expression. “Don’t be upset,” he says quietly. “They’re not angry at you.”

“…could have fooled me,” I whisper back.

“They’re upset because they’re not allowed to cure you. They physically can’t. They’re going to have to stand by and watch you die, no matter how much they love you. That’s why they’re so angry. Give them a while to deal with it in their own ways.”

I lift my head to him and his boyfriend. “And you?”

Jihoon shakes his head slowly, looking away. “What can I say? I… I don’t want you to die, Joshua.”

Seungcheol gives me a look that tells me I’m an idiot. “What, you think I’m gonna say I’m glad? Don’t fucking _die_ , Joshua. I’m just upset you didn’t tell us before! Although, knowing you, you probably had a good reason for it.” He pouts, making his lips a thick circle in his face, the way he usually does when he’s not really that annoyed. “Stupid Joshua with his stupid morals.”

I go sit in the chair opposite Jihoon and look at him. “Are you okay?”

“Shouldn’t _I_ be the one asking _you_ that? You’ve been working normally all this time, keeping the school running…”

I sigh and lean back, feeling comforted by warm hands on my shoulders. It’s nice to have Jeonghan close. I’m just trying to forget he’s mirroring Seungcheol’s stance. “…I. Well. I… I’ve had cancer before.”

They both jerk up to stare at me, but I can’t meet their gazes. I just stare at my own hands.

“It wasn’t very far on at all. It was back when I was a child. I was declared cancer-free very quickly, really, as fast as these things go. I didn’t expect to relapse like this for… decades, at least. I didn’t tell anybody then, because I knew DK would cry and Wonwoo would worry. I didn’t want to tell anybody this time for the same reason. It’s our last year together, after all, I didn’t want to ruin it. I thought it would be just like last time. But it’s progressed a little further and… well. I’m sorry you had to find out about it like this.” My hands curl into fists. “When I get my hands on my uncle I’m gonna-”

“Don’t,” Seungcheol says softly. “He didn’t do it on purpose. His office computer was running updates and he knew he’d gotten your latest medicals, so he was using our computer to check them. Wonwoo just happened to look over his shoulder and see.”

I have to take deep breathes. “How could everything have gone so _wrong_? I’m sorry, I never thought it would all happen like this.”

Jihoon eventually grips my hand. “…well, we know now. And we’re only here to help you, so don’t suffer by yourself anymore, alright? Share the burden a little. We can handle it.”

I snort out a chuckle and manage a smile. “Thanks, Jihoon. But… I don’t think Wonwoo and DK are going to see it that way.”

He pets my knee. “Don’t worry. They’ll get over it. They do really love you, you know.”

“Ain’t that the problem,” I mutter back.

 

“Hey.”

“Hm?”

“Are you really okay?”

Joshua sighs, but nods. “Yeah. I’ll be alright. I just… don’t like it when people are angry with me.”

I shift over on my rolling chair and gently knead my thumbs into his shoulders. “You’re all tense,” I mutter when he stops typing. “It’s annoying to look at.”

He sighs again – relief, this time – and eventually relaxes, allowing me to do my work.

“Hey, Jeonghan?”

“Yeah?”

“What happens when a demon dies? Like – if I cut you?”

“I wouldn’t die of that.”

“Well then how would you die?”

“Demon knives, or bleeding out, or angel’s blood, or angel’s knives, Demon’s Rights, that kind of thing.” I lean in a little. “Why do you want to know?”

“I’m a bit curious,” he mumbles shyly. “What happens if you die?”

“Demons go to purgatory. A land of eternal fire where we are stripped of everything that makes us not animals. I’ve never been there, so obviously, I can’t give you a very detailed description.”

“I see.” It takes him a moment. “Wait, what are Demon’s Rights?”

“Various spells and kinds of magic that can kill a demon. Particular spells and hexes.”

“Can demons commit suicide?”

“Nope.” I pause. “Well, there is _one_ way for a demon to die.”

Joshua turns in surprise at my tone, and my thumbs halt on his shoulders. “Yes?”

“…falling in love with a human would be a bad idea,” I prompt.

“Oh.” He swivels completely around to me. “You’re not allowed to fall in love? Ever?”

I shake my head. “Well, it’s complicated. But in short, you can fall in love as long as you never say the words. And you can say the words, as long as you’re not really in love. But to be in love _and_ say the words gets your ass whisked away to purgatory quicker than you can say _just kidding_.”

He stares a moment. “The words?”

“Those three little words?”

“Oh, those words! That sucks.” He pulls an adorable face and swirls back around to his computer. “Must be hard.”

“I’m worried,” I mutter at him, jabbing a thumb into his back. “You’ve been through a lot today. Would you like to relax and stop working, please?”

“With two of my Prefects out of the works, it just means there’s more for me to do. Don’t worry, I’m almost done, then we can eat.”

“Let’s eat out.”

“What?”

“Go into town.”

“I’m not going to the cat café again,” he warns.

“I wasn’t going to try again for at least another month.” I chuckle and cross my arms around his chest from behind. “Come on, finish it. I’m hungry. I want to eat.”

“Fine, fine!” He hits the save button and wriggles away from my arms. “You’re the worst. I hate you.”

“Wear a scarf,” I patronize. “It’s cold out.”

“Super hate. The hatiest hate of all the hates!”

I laugh, watching him cross to the coat rack with his super-pouty expression. Ah, to be Concordat to such a piece of shit.

 

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I actually, physically, incredibly, can’t believe what I’m hearing. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”

Joshua doesn’t look at me. “…if Jun apologizes, I’m going to take him back.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“No.” He turns to me and props his head up on his fist. “You loved Mingyu, yes?”

The question leaves my throat dry, so I just nod once.

“And you believe you made a mistake, doing what you did.”

“Of course,” I croak out.

“…I don’t want to make the same mistake as you,” he mumbles quietly.

As I mull over his tone, I wonder how it’s possible for one person to be that _stupid_. “That was completely different,” I point out. “Mingyu wasn’t a sexually assaulting _creep_ , and it’s not like I just broke up with him, I _sentenced him to death._ You can’t draw parallels here, Joshua. It’s not the same. It never will be.”

“It’s exactly the same,” he mutters back. “I… I’ve already fallen for Jun. There’s no way out, now.”

“There are plenty of ways out.” I hit a cold sweat, suddenly lashing it off my brow. “Joshua, don’t do this. Joshua. Don’t go back to him. The things he could do to you-”

“I’ll tell him about the cancer.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about!” My empty, dark dorm room goes quiet. Too quiet. “Joshua?!”

“Yes?”

I breathe a sigh of relief. “You weren’t breathing.”

“I was waiting for you to stop being angry with me,” he grumbles in the darkness. “I don’t like it when you’re angry with me. I mean, annoyed is normal, but… I have a complex.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Really?”

“I don’t like it when people are angry with me.” He gulps. “Why do you think I get straight A’s and am the top Prefect? I… my whole life revolves around not getting into trouble, not having people angry with me.”

“…that’s not normal.” I swing my legs out of bed. “Why’s that?”

“…I guess it has something to do with when my dad died.” Suddenly he goes really quiet. “I can tell you about it, if you want.”

“No,” is my first and instant reaction. “No, don’t relive bad memories. If… if you like, I can take the memory out to see it and then put it back in. It’s a demon thing. You’d be unconscious the whole time and wouldn’t know about it. But… you have to give me permission first.”

In the darkness, Joshua moves to mimic my stance. “You have my permission. Just that memory, though.”

I cross the room, kneel in front of him, and press my forehead to his as he goes to sleep.

Twenty minutes later, Joshua wakes up in front of me, blinking against the dark of the room. “Jeonghan? Did… did it work?”

“It worked.”

Joshua looks at me once, just once, and throws his arms around me. “Don’t cry,” he begs.

It’s too late. Tears are already dripping down my face. “I’m not crying,” I lie, hugging him back. “Don’t worry. It’s late, and you need to gain some strength. Try not to be too stressed and sleep well, alright?”

“A-alright,” he nods. I tuck him in and then I just lay in my bunk across from him, staring at him.

And when the first rays of sunlight show on the horizon, I know there’s no denying it. I have to protect this boy. From his past, from his future, and from his present. I know I’ve become his Concordat for a reason: because Joshua _can’t_ live without protection. Joshua needs somebody by his side. Joshua needs me. And I… I need him, too.

 

“Wonwoo.”

“I know.” I know because I’m holding DK’s hand and the thoughts he chooses to share are automatically shared.

We watch the sickening sight in the distance, of Joshua nodding and muttering the words _I forgive you_ before hugging the demon in most recent conquest for his soul and body.

“I can’t keep this up,” he whispers. “I love Joshua too much.”

“…me too,” I admit quietly. I wonder if my love for Joshua is greater than DK’s, or just different. “It’s hard to stomach for me, too.”

“I’m sorry we yelled at him.”

“Me too.”

“I want him back.”

“Me too.”

“You’re not very talkative.”

“No. You’re saying all the things I would say, anyway.”

“I don’t want him to die.”

“Me, too.”

He squeezes my hand. “…can we make it right? Have we left it too long? Will he take us back?”

It’s strange to feel DK’s love for Joshua in my head. To know how dedicated he is to Joshua’s smile. To feel that complete loyalty and devotion to making Joshua _happy_. Maybe DK loves him more than me, because _my_ love for Joshua is so much more selfish. I don’t want Joshua happy for Joshua, I want him happy for _me_. I want to hold him in _my_ arms and have him kiss _my_ lips. And yet, I’d give it all up – every chance, every fantasy – I’d let it all go if it meant I could cure him of cancer. DK’s right. Joshua deserves happiness, and a long, long life.

“I don’t think that’s selfish,” he whispers.

I can’t take my eyes off somebody else hugging my Joshua. “…matter of no consequence,” I tell him quietly. “No matter what, we need him back in our lives. We exaggerated because we were overcome and upset.”

“…will he take us back?”

At that, I have to grin and turn to my worrying friend. “DK,” I smile, “if Joshua can forgive filth like that after what he did, do you really think he would leave us out in the cold?”

DK nods once, and then smiles. “You’re right.”

“Yeah.” I let go of his hand, allowing the full ache in my heart to take hold. “I know.”


	26. A Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: this chapter may contain graphic images of a car crash and death.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

I shuffle uncomfortably. “I have plans with Jun.” I hate bringing him up, because every time I do, Jeonghan gets really _weird_. Quiet, and shuffly, and squirmy, and right-out _weird_. And not even the I-disapprove-of-you-going-to-your-demon-slash-teacher-boyfriend’s-house-to-make-out kind of weird, but just… just really _weird_.

“Oh.”

I sigh.

“Can’t you cancel them?”

This is the first time Jeonghan’s ever asked me to cancel a date with Jun, and for some reason, I’m not upset that he’s asking. I’m a little flattered, really. “Why?”

“We never get to hang out anymore, not really. Ever since you guys got back together it’s been _Jun, Jun, Jun._ ”

“…today he wanted to do something special, I can’t really cancel on him.” Now I’m starting to feel guilty all around. “I’m sorry. We’ll hang out tomorrow.”

“Psht, never mind then.” He crosses his arms, but then turns. “Why special?”

I mumble it under my breath.

“Excuse me?”

“…Christmas.”

“Oh, shit, it’s Christmas.”

I hold two hands up. “We don’t celebrate. I don’t celebrate. Ever. It’s Jun’s idea.”

“…I see.”

 

The moment he sees me, just like always, he pulls me in for a warm kiss. The kind that sinks deep into my chest and makes me grin a little.

“Hello, precious,” he smirks.

“Hello,” I sigh back. I love the way Jun holds me – like he wants me, like he can’t get enough of me. It’s a very nice feeling. “Merry Christmas, asshole.”

“Merry Christmas, my _beautiful_ and _delectable_ boyfriend.”

I roll my eyes and shut the door behind myself. “It’s ridiculously cold out there,” I complain. “All the snow and the frost and I almost _died_ because there was a _puddle_ and it was _frozen over_ and I just-”

Jun suddenly leans in very close, pressing me against the door again. He lets his eyes trail down my body, pinning me down until he looks back up, a dark look in them. “I could… heat you up,” he suggests, licking his lips slowly. “I’d be very good at it.”

I grin, even though he still makes me tremble a bit. I’m kind of used to this by now. “Can you do it with my clothes on?” I challenge.

He looks me up and down again, more doubtful. “Heat’s shared better skin-on-skin,” he tries.

“That’s what I thought.”

“Fuck.” Jun leans in and kisses me, ravaging my bottom lip, hands cupping my ass as he presses up against me. “Why are you so _hot_?”

“I got it from my momma.”

“Don’t ruin it,” he growls down my throat.

I playfully shove him off to take off my scarf and coat, letting myself into his house. “I think I’ll opt for hot chocolate. Coffee, if you have it.”

“Fuck you,” he mumbles harmlessly, winking at me as he bests me to the kitchen.

“You wish.”

“I do.”

I let myself fall on his couch as he makes me hot chocolate – when he comes over to serve it, he grips me in his arms and puts his teeth around my earlobe. “Can I give you your present now?”

“You got me a present?”

“It’s Christmas.”

“I don’t want a present…”

“Don’t be puffy with me, or I’ll lick your ear clean off,” he threatens with a grin. “Are you ready to be pampered?”

“Fine,” I sigh, doing my best to sound like he’s just asked me to have y fingernails pulled from my body one by one. Just to get the message across.

“It’s a verbal present,” he smiles.

“Verbal present?”

He grins widely, and kisses me briefly. “I love you, Joshua.”

My breath catches in my throat, halting all flow. I freeze. It’s not because it’s the first time he’s ever said it – although that’s a fine thing, nonetheless.

It’s because I, for some reason, expect Jun to disappear right out of my hands.

But he never does.

 

_The car is full of the dull, dusty scent of cigarettes long burnt out. There’s one stub on the floor, but only one: it means somebody has cleaned the car very recently, and really tried to clean it right. The smell of tobacco has pervaded everything: it clings to the faux leather seats of the car, it’s seeped into the foot mats, ashes in the marble ashtray – it’s even overtaken the scented pine tree hanging from the rear-view mirror. No biggie. That pine tree only smelled like pines for a day or so before the smoke got it._

_There’s live smoke, here, too – not the dusted, old kind that’s become every-day, but the new, fresh kind that comes with lit embers. There’s only a whiff of it. He’s gracefully holding the cigarette_ outside _the window. When the lights change, he flicks it to the curb._

_He doesn’t get angry, not the loud type of angry, in any case. He doesn’t go yelling and screaming, that’s not how he gets angry. The tension rolls off him in thick waves, and he goes silent – as silent as the grave. It frightens the boy next to him. He doesn’t like it when his father is like this. It usually means something bad is going to happen._

_The boy knew it was his fault. He’d been playing around in the waiting room and wanted to finish his drawing on the small blackboard before he left with his father. But his father had gotten angry, and used his angry voice, so the boy had to leave his chalk drawing half-made. His father gripped him a little too hard, strapped him into the car a little too roughly._

_“Dad?”_

_Silence._

_“Are you angry with me?”_

_Silence._

_“I’m sorry. I said I was sorry. I didn’t mean it, dad.”_

_He sighed, angrily. “No,” he said tensely, “I’m not angry with you, kiddo.”_

_“That always means you’re angry with me anyway,” the boy mumbled._

_That moment, as they cruised down the highway, a motorcycle whizzed by with a startling, shocking and probably illegal sound. The boy covered both his ears against the sound, but the man just sat there._

_Hands on ten and twelve. Eyes looking forward._

_The boy took his hands off his ears._

_The man’s eyes grew wider and wider. One hand lost its grip on the steering wheel to grip at his chest._

_“Dad?”_

_The man beat on his chest twice, eyes blown wide in panic, and his head turned to the boy._

_“My son,” he whispered._

_That was when his body slumped in his chair, and the car flew over the guard rail, plummeting to the earth three stories down._

_The boy was hurt. So hurt. Everything hurt. He was crying before he even woke up. His little body was crushed between the safety belt and the airbag, but something sharp had pierced the bag to make it deflate. A piece of glass. Bloodied glass._

_It took a few minutes, but when the boy unclasped his belt, he fell. The car was upside-down. The boy crawled to his side, sobbing._

_“Dad! Dad! Dad, I’m hurt! Dad!_ DAD! _”_

_Flames. Heat. The boy hadn’t noticed, but they were licking close._

_“DAD!”_

_The man stirred. Eyes opening ever so slightly. A long, strong, bloodied arm twitched towards the area the small voice was coming from. There was a cough._

_“My son.”_

_“Dad!” The boy started sobbing properly now as sirens were heard. “Dad, dad!”_

_The man closed his eyes._

_“Dad, dad no! Dad, I’ll never be bad again! I promise I’ll never, ever be bad again! Dad! Dad open your eyes! Dad! Dad! DAD! OPEN YOUR EYES!”_

_Something broke with an alarming sound, and hands gripped the boy’s legs. His little arms lifted up to hold onto his father’s arm. “Dad! No! Don’t take me away! Dad! Dad open your eyes! No! No! Don’t take me – don’t take me! I want to stay with him! I want to stay with him!”_

_The hands on his ankles won over and he was dragged out of the burning wreckage, screaming and kicking._

_“Dad!” he screamed, still trying. “Dad, I’ll never be bad again! I promise! I’ll never, EVER, be bad again! Just-”_

_And just like that, the entire car burst in a small poof of black smoke and flames, as the entire frame collapsed on itself._

_He would later learn that his father was in end-stage lung cancer from years of chain smoking; he would learn that it was an inability to breathe that caused his father to slump in his chair, it was cancer that did him in, and he wouldn’t have lived more than a month, had he been rescued from the car, anyway. He would learn seven months later that his father’s bad habits had affected him too, and that he had the same disease. He would learn that nothing – nothing was his own fault, that he was blameless, and a good child. He would learn that his father loved him, loved him deeply and fiercely. But it didn’t matter. The damage was done. He was broken from the inside out. Joshua had been broken from the inside out._

 

Every time I close my damn eyes, I can see it, I can smell it. In his mind. As seven-year-old him had seen it, had smelled it, had felt it. How thick the blood on his father’s arm had felt, how slippery it was to hold on to – how his lungs burned from heaving and his throat stung raw from screaming. Every time I close my eyes, it’s all I can see. And all I can feel is the guilt of a seven-year-old who thought his father died angry with him. Who thought that if his father had been taken out of the car first, he would have lived. All I can feel riddling through my body is the insane guilt of a tiny, tiny boy in the meanest, cruellest world.

And really, as a demon, I should feel good. I should thrive on the pain and misfortune of others. But not Joshua. Not him.

His memory – that one, simple, lone memory – runs through me worse than me own. Yes, worse. Absolutely, unequivocally worse. When I sentenced my lover to death, I knew what I was doing. I went in with my eyes open and I was an adult. I understood all the implications of everything – and I knew the consequences. I was able to live with myself.

Joshua was just a little boy. Just a little boy. He didn’t know or understand anything, not anything at all.

And I know he’s never told a single soul about it. He’s never told anybody. I don’t think _he_ thinks he could ever tell it right. With me, he doesn’t have to. I see, feel, know everything, now. I share the pain he carries with him, every day.

And now the song he sang at the talent show makes all the more sense, because I can still hear his little voice screaming in the wreckage to stay with his father’s corpse.

I have to shake my head a little to clear my mind a bit more, flipping through the pages of the book I’m holding, tracing Joshua’s family back as far as it goes and slowly working back to the here and now. There’s something in my blood, when I hear him screaming in my thoughts, that makes me just _know_ I’m meant to be his Concordat. And if I’m meant to be by his side, then somewhere in his family, my Ovo was born.

I know, from her name, she must have been a woman. I’m not picky either way, but I always have to wonder what kind of person she would have been. She would have been a tough cookie to deal with my dumb ass, that’s for sure. I wonder if she had long hair or short, if she was noble or peasant or post-war civilian. I wonder if she was pretty or plain, slender or fat, whether she was nurturing or kind or fair. I wonder whether she was an excellent cook, or a crap cook, and whether she would approve of the red box that’s lying on Joshua’s pillow, wrapped with a silver ribbon around it. I wonder if she’d approve.

The door bursts open and Joshua’s in the doorway to distract me – complexion ashy, expression dull.

“Hey, Merry Christmas,” I try to cheer at him. “How was Jun?”

Joshua seems to speak through unmoving lips. “He told me he loved me.”

I freeze.

“He didn’t disappear to purgatory.”

“God,” I whisper. “…Joshua, I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he shrugs. “I was able to uh, forget it and have a good day. But… it’s bothering me now.”

“Maybe you should try not to think of it.” _Or maybe dump his dumb ass before he convinces you to give him your virginity and your soul._

Joshua blinks a little, almost like he’s coming out of a daze. “…yeah. Yeah, maybe I should. Whatcha doing?”

“Tracing your lineage,” I smile, warming up to the new topic of conversation. “Trying to find my Ovo.”

“Aren’t you ever going to tell me her name?” he asks, slinging his coat and gloves over the end of my bed.

I hum, thinking about it, and what kind of leverage it would give him to tease me. “Tell you what,” I tell him, closing the book, “when I get to the end of my investigation, whether she’s your family or not, I’ll tell you her name.”

“Deal,” he says instantly before letting out a long yawn. “It’s late, so I’m gonna – what’s this?”

I spring up to take the box and press it into his hands. “It’s for you.” I had imagined giving it to him excitedly, but now that he’s actually here, I feel like just flying away and letting him unpack it by himself.

“…for _me_?” he asks. The tone is a little surprised, but more confused. “What is it?”

“Open it up!”

“But…”

“Just open it. Before I take it back and decide I don’t want to give it to you anymore.”

Joshua unties the silver ribbon curiously and puts the box on the bed before lifting the lid. When he does so, he gives a _gasp_ of surprise, pulling the item out of it. “Jeonghan!” he gasps in surprise.

I hold both hands up, unable to stop smiling. The surprise and glee in his face were everything I had imagined they’d be. “I promise, it’s not real. I know you wouldn’t approve of poaching.”

“Of course not,” he mutters haughtily, staring at it.

“Here, put it on.” I take the golden clasp and throw the large, deep red fur cloak around his shoulders, fastening it around them. I take out the matching dark red gloves and slide them onto his hands carefully. “A perfect fit,” I grin, content. “There, now. You look good. You should wear this color more often.”

Joshua stands, gaping like a fish for a moment.

“Joshua?” I suddenly feel a bit nervous. “Joshua, what is it? Do you not like it? You don’t have to wear it if y-”

He frowns slightly, fingers gripping at the edges of burgundy fur. “…I don’t understand,” he says. “Why…?”

I stare at him dumbly. “It’s a present. I stumbled in on you on your birthday, so I missed that one. Happy Christmas.”

It takes him a few full minutes and a number of repetitions of the word _present_ before he looks at me, entirely bewildered. “I… I’ve never had a present before.”

“What?” I gawk. “Not ever?”

He shakes his head. “My parents never believed in gift-giving, but in rewarding, and it just never became a thing among my friends.”

“Well, then, it’s definitely a present. There, I gave you your first present.”

Like a fool, Joshua’s eyes pool with tears, and he just throws himself at me in happiness. “Jeonghan! I – I – I! I don’t know what to say!”

“Do you like it?” I laugh, hugging him back.

He just nods on my shoulder.

“Then you’re very welcome.”

After a solid forty minutes of alternatively glancing in the mirror and crying to himself, Joshua puts the cloak and gloves away in their box and goes to bed. I take my rightful place above him, smiling the entire night away.

There’s just something that fills me with warmth, to see Joshua wear my cloak.


	27. Countdown Begins

“Not going so well, huh?”

I shrug at him. “Well, it’s bound to take some time. I didn’t expect to find her overnight.”

“Guess not.” Joshua looks away in a pout, but it soon turns into a happy little grin as he cuddles down into my cape. I haven’t told him it’s mine yet – and I don’t really plan to. It’s not really important information that he needs, is it?

The other Prefects are at the gates to meet him, greeting him with New Year’s Happy Returns until Wonwoo’s eyes turn into little slits. “Joshua.”

“Hmm?”

“Why are you wearing Jeonghan’s cloak?”

“Eh? How did you know it was from him?” Joshua’s face glows a little as he grins happily, scrunching his neck down so he looks a bit cuter in the collar of fur. “It’s nice, right?”

“No, I mean, it’s _his_.” Wonwoo scowls as he moves to the back of the collar. “It’s in _his_ color, and it’s got _his_ initials sewn into the collar. Here. YJ.”

Joshua looks at the label and then looks at me in shock.

I shrug, trying to play it off. “It’s not like I use it that much. Besides, I thought you would suit it better than me. And you do. You look good.” And with that last word, anxiety riddles my chest like ice, because I’m pretty sure Joshua isn’t going to be happy with the idea that he’s wearing a demon’s clothes. And I want him to wear them. He looks good in them. And they’ll keep him warm.

Joshua is frozen for a moment, and then he throws his arms around me. “You gave me something so personal!” he whispers in happy shock. “Jeonghan!”

I put my arms around him too, slightly bewildered. “Ye-yes?”

“Thank you,” he whispers. “You’re the best.” And with that, he smacks his lips against my cheeks and lets me go. Joshua flutters off to grab DK’s hand on his right and Wonwoo’s on his left, and he skips through the gates up to the front door of school.

And I’m left on the pavement, wondering why I feel like I still have a heart beating in my chest.

 

“You’re no fun today,” Jun mumbles, pulling an arm around my waist. “You know I only ask you to help clean the room so I can kiss you until you’re begging for more, what’s up baby?”

I shrug him off uncomfortably. “Nothing, I guess I didn’t sleep very well.”

“Hm.” He stops a moment and leans in, sniffing at me. “Why do you smell like that demon?”

I pull a face and let my voice fall flat and sarcastic. “You mean the one I knew long before I knew you, the one that’s got a Concordat on his ass that compels him to both live with me and keep my ass safe from all harm and danger?”

“…I see your point,” he says measuredly, “but you don’t usually smell like him.”

“Maybe he used the soap before me.”

“Joshie.”

I sigh and put the broom down, turning to him awkwardly. It’s uncomfortable. I cross my arms so that I’m the least appealing thing in the room for _hugging_ , which I know he’ll try. “I know.”

“…yes?”

“That you don’t really love me.”

He smiles, confused. “Babe, what are you talking about?”

“I know you don’t really love me.”

“Of course I do! Baby!”

He gives me a sad puppy kind of look, but I can only sigh tiredly. “Jeonghan told me that if a demon really loves somebody and says the words, they get their ass magicked to purgatory.”

Jun freezes.

I sigh again and uncross my arms, rubbing the tops of his arms. “It’s okay. I’m not mad.”

“What?”

“Not really.” I sigh a bit, sitting on a table. “I mean… I guess? I’m just upset that you felt the need to say it if it wasn’t true. I don’t mind if you don’t love me… yet. I’m sure we’ll get there, at some point.”

Jun looks at me, sighs, and breaks out into a little laugh. “You really are _pure_ ,” he smiles broadly. “How many times are you going to forgive me for messing up?”

“Seventy times seven?” I suggest with a grin.

“Kiss me, idiot Prefect.”

I put my arms around his neck and kiss him – taking in the light scent of brimstone. Yeah, for now, it’s okay that Jun doesn’t love me. I can live with his like. For now. I have his kisses, his thoughts, his arms and hands and loyalty, and for now, that’s enough.

Jun’s hand slides up the inside of my thigh and as always it makes me gasp and squirm. Just like always, he grins against my lips and tries to get me hard – and just like always, I push him back.

“Aw, come on,” he whines meaninglessly, grinning.

“Shut up, you know how it is.”

“…hey. Prom’s in a month, right?”

“Yeah, sure. Jihoon is helping me coordinate it. We’re going to take up the whole gymnasium _and_ some of the grounds, too. Why?”

Jun puts a hand on either side of me and leans in, giving me those smouldering eyes look. “At prom…?”

It takes me a moment. “You’ve got to be kidding, right?”

“…no?”

“Do you know _how much_ I have to do for prom? I’ll be tidying up for _hours_ when it’s all done. And I will not want to do _anything_ but _sleep_ at 5 AM.”

“You’re not going to be up late, you have a condition.”

“Condition, smishon.”

“Your latest med update came in today.”

I freeze.

Jun sighs at me. “Surgery, the day after prom.”

I bite my lip. “Well, yeah. Surgery is kind of normal when you have cancer. It’s a thing.”

“Joshua, we all know what your chances are.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna die, blah blah blah. Don’t need everybody reminding me all the time.” I make another face and hop off the table to go wipe the whiteboard clean. “Listen, just-”

“That’s not what I’m getting at.”

“What, then?”

Jun blocks me, gripping me. “I don’t want you to miss out on any experiences. I want you to live your young life, and have fun, and do all the things you’re supposed to. Before it’s too late.”

My throat seems to close up and my heart starts whacking, but he has a point. I might not live for very long. Do I want to die a virgin?

Okay, maybe that’s a little lame. But Jun has a point.

“I’ll think about it,” I answer crustily.

“Great,” he grins.

“But I have no immediate plans for death,” I mutter, pointing at him. “So _you_ think about _that_.”

 

“I’m worried.”

“Don’t be,” I smile. “You can’t change anything, anyway.”

“That doesn’t mean I stop worrying.”

“Listen, we’re dating, alright? I don’t need your approval. And yes, we might be having sex in the near future. Again, don’t need your approval. Next time I catch you listening in on my conversations I’ll smack you.”

Jeonghan gives me a look and hugs me from behind, probably hurting himself on the back of my chair. “I’ll worry anyway,” he mumbles.

“So, how’s the search going?”

It’s only a ruse to get him to switch topic, but it works. “I give up. There’s nothing in your whole family. I guess she’s not an ancestor of yours.” He gives me a funny look. “I thought there might be a deeper reason why I ended up as your Concordat, but I guess not. My Ovo isn’t in your family. I guess.”

I swirl to him, deeply interested. “So, are you going to tell me her name now?”

Jeonghan chuckles. “I don’t see why you’re so interested.”

“Aw come on! I’ve waited this long!”

He smiles, and it’s a sad kind of smile. Heart-breaking, actually. “…her name is Hong Jisoo.”

My fingers freeze.

“…Josh?”

“Hm, nothing. Jisoo. That’s. That’s a nice name.”

“Yeah. I wonder what she would have been like.” Jeonghan looks out the window, but the expression on his face is like he’s not even in this century. He looks old, and worn out. “Is it stupid? To miss something you never had? It’s like losing a future, losing a life. I wish I’d known her. Maybe… things would be easier now, if I had.”

“Things now?” I croak out, trying to keep him talking.

“…I’m going through some… thoughts. I guess if she was here, it would all be cleared up for me. She would have cleared them all up for me.”

The look Jeonghan, my constant companion pulls, is one of such unhidden _agony_ that I can’t say anything. The words in my throat stick there and never come out. _I can’t tell him,_ I think in pure panic. _I can’t tell him, I can’t tell him, I can’t tell him._

_I can’t tell him that I was born with the name Hong Jisoo. Because if I tell him that, then that means I was his Ovo. And if I was his Ovo…_

I look down at my wrists, where the X’s of a dead lover seem bigger and blacker than ever.

_If I was his Ovo, then it’s all wrong._

 

 

“You’ve been doing a lot of work for prom,” he mentions.

“Yes,” I mutter back. “Joshua needs all the help he can get. You’ve been working, too.”

“Not as much as you.”

“Your point being?”

Seungcheol sighs and puts his hands on my shoulders to massage me. “I want you to relax,” he whispers.

“So help me-”

“Come on. We’ve been back at school for a whole week and we haven’t even done it yet.” His lips latch on to my neck as his fingers undo all my buttons. “Babe,” he whispers, “I love you.”

“Seungcheol I-”

His hands meet my pants and I can’t help but jerk.

“Fine. You’re on.” I get up off the chair and chase him to the bed. “You’re going to be so fucked out you won’t walk right for weeks.”

 

“Three weeks till prom,” Wonwoo says lowly.

“Yeah.”

“Three weeks and a day until…”

“Yeah, I know.”

Wonwoo doesn’t uncurl himself from the fetal position on his bed. I’m just sitting up, knees high, resting my arms out helplessly. “I don’t… I can’t…”

“I don’t know if I can, either.”

“Seeing him on a table with his chest open… DK, I…”

“Me, too.”

“You love him a lot.”

“Yes, I love him a lot. So do you.”

“So do I.”

“He rejected both of us.”

“I used to be mad about that,” Wonwoo admits in a haunted whisper. “Back when I thought he’d grow old, I was mad about being rejected. But now… but now, I’m just… empty. I want him to have a long life, DK.”

“…me too.”

“I love him.”

“Yeah.”

Wonwoo looks up at me, and we have a moment where we just look at each other, bearing the agony. “At least we still have each other,” I whisper.

“Yeah,” he mumbles, expression softening with a nod. “At least we have each other.”

_…And so the countdown begins._


	28. Kissing You

Jeonghan doesn’t mention it when I get clingy. He doesn’t utter a word about the nightmares where I wake up screaming his name, he doesn’t mention it when I go out more and more with him, when I take his hand, when I pay for ice-cream, when I take him shopping for sweaters and buy two so he can wear one, when I sigh wistfully as couples. I can’t tell whether he’s really stupid, or just doesn’t make it awkward for me.

I want to tell him. There’s a part of me that wants to burst out, yelling. _Jeonghan. It’s me. I’m your Ovo. I’m Hong Jisoo. You’re my Ovo, that’s why there’s only X’s on my wrists. We were meant to be together from the start. We’re meant to be. You’re supposed to fall in love with me, and I’m supposed to fall in love with you._

But if I only existed of one part of me, I’d be very one-dimensional. There’s a second part of me that knows that everything will be too complicated. Jeonghan is a demon – if he says he loves me he dies, and I’m already on borrowed time myself, as far as _living_ is concerned. Why would I put him through that kind of pain? To find his Ovo – for him to find his soulmate, _finally,_ after all this time, and then what? I just die? Or worse yet, he dies?

I don’t want to hurt him.

And then, there’s Jun. I have feelings for Jun, without a doubt. Stirrings. So I haven’t exactly broken up with him yet.

Meanwhile, I spiral deeper and deeper into Jeonghan. I should have known at Christmas, when he gave me his cloak. I started, right then. And now…

What _are_ we? Friends? Maybe? Jeonghan doesn’t make snide, sarcastic remarks anymore, not really, so that makes us friends, right? The fact that his face is so pretty it makes my heart hurt, and that his jawline is sharp enough for me to cut myself on, and the fact that his voice makes my very soul tremble… that’s all _whatever_ , right?

I can ignore that, _right_?

But when Jeonghan rushes in from across the dorm to cradle me after a bad dream, he looks at me different. He looks at me with worry, with softness. He looks at me like… like Seungcheol looks at Jihoon when he’s worried.

It scares me. I’m scared. I’m scared of how Jeonghan looks at me. And worse yet, I’m scared of how I look back at him. Because no matter what, if Jeonghan’s there, I feel _safe_. And it’s not like I feel _unsafe_ if he’s not around, but he’s like a security blanket for a child. When Jeonghan is near – when I can look into his round eyes and rest my head on his shoulder, I feel happy. Content, and happy.

So yeah, I’m sort of a love-stricken maiden over the _one_ person I literally can’t do _anything_ with, I’m in a relationship with a teacher I have feelings for but who doesn’t love me, two of my best friends are crushing on me, I slipped all the way down to a B+ in history and I have two weeks left to sort out prom.

Naturally, this is an _excellent_ moment in my life and academic career for me to be studying the Animaniacs _All The Countries of the World_ song.

“Here.”

I groan loudly, taking the coffee from him. “You put me off track!”

Jeonghan sits on my desk. “Where’d you get to?”

“Like, South America, somewhere. Okay.” I sigh and open my notebook again. “United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru, Republic Dominican, Cuba, Caribbean, Greenland, El Salvador too, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela, Honduras, Guyana and still, Guatemala, Bolivia, then Argentina, and Ecuador, Chile, Brazil!”

Jeonghan joins me in a low singing voice. “Costa Rica, Belize, Nicaragua, Bermuda, Bahamas, Tobago, San Juan, Paraguay, Uruguay, Suriname, and French Guyana, Barbados and Guam!”

He rolls his eyes gently at me. “You’re an excellent procrastinator, Joshua. I never thought you had it in you.”

I lean back with my coffee. “I think a subconscious part of my brain is hoping that if I don’t organize prom then it won’t happen, and if prom doesn’t happen my operation won’t happen.”

“I don’t think it works that way,” he comments.

“You’re telling me,” I mumble, taking a sip.

“Are we going out later again?”

“Yeah, that okay with you?”

“Sure.” Jeonghan grins. “I have somewhere I want to take you.”

“Yeah?” I raise an eyebrow. “We went to the café just the other week so if-”

“It’s not the kitty café, lighten up.”

I pout but let him have his little secret, regardless. I eventually shift my list of countries to the side, finish my e-mails about food and punch and no-booze security, and slide away from the desk. “Done. Finito. For today.”

“Good. Grab your coat.”

I’ve never told Jeonghan how much I like wearing his cloak. It kind of smells like him, a little. It makes me happy. It’s super warm, too. And he’s right, I look pretty good in the color.

Jeonghan grabs me in the corridor and, once we’re sure we’re alone, he whisks me away and suddenly we’re outside, pretty far away from the world, it seems. I step away from his embrace dizzily, grabbing my head. “This always screws with me,” I complain, mouth dry.

“Sorry,” Jeonghan smiles languidly, putting his hands on my shoulders. “Here, we’ll wait a moment.”

“Where _are_ we?”

“…the countryside,” he side-steps.

“In which country?”

He doesn’t speak.

“Jeonghan!”

“Don’t worry so much,” he mumbles, watching me as my world stops spinning so hard. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, just give me a second.” Once everything stops spinning for good and seems more or less to be inanimate for the most part, I manage to look around.

When Jeonghan says ‘the countryside’ he’s not kidding. There’s nothing around for miles but mountains and hills, all of it green and white dotted with snow. We’re standing on a cliff, and it’s the middle of the night.

“Where the hell _are_ we?”

“Scotland,” he says nonchalantly.

“Scotland?!”

“Shhhh, relax.”

“It’s the middle of the night here! My clock is gonna be so messed up!”

“Would you just shush for a bit?” Jeonghan grabs my hand in his and leads me to the edge of the cliff. “It’s beautiful.”

I can’t really argue with that, but I still pout – just for dramatic purposes – as he pulls me towards a large stack of blankets and a cooler.

“We’ve got about an hour of darkness left to watch the stars before dawn hits,” he coos softly. “And when it does hit, it’ll hit the river just right. It’ll be beautiful.”

My head automatically looks up and my jaw drops. Jeonghan’s right. We can watch the stars, and they’re _beautiful_ , and everywhere, and _beautiful._ It’s a massive swirl of glittering diamonds against a black backdrop, the kind that you only ever see in moves, and it takes my breath away instantly. “Jeonghan.”

He looks at me with a glint in his eyes and a soft smile on his face. “Do you like it?” he whispers.

“…it’s beautiful.”

“Here, sit.”

Jeonghan’s got wine, which I refuse to drink, and Capri Sun which I feel is a much more suitable alternative. After all, he’s several hundred years old, but I’ve got some way to go until I’m 21. I lean back on thick blankets, just staring up at the sky.

“It’s amazing,” I whisper in the darkness. “How did you…”

“I scouted it out,” Jeonghan grins. “I’m glad you like it. You need the relaxation.”

Slowly, over time, the sky goes from black to purple and ridges of pink lie on the horizon: we both sit up to watch the sun rise, letting the river under the cliff slowly turn the same colors as the sky.

I turn to Jeonghan.

He looks at me different. Like he would spend the rest of forever here with me, if I wanted to. He smiles gently and plays with a piece of my hair.

Before I know what I’m doing, I lean in and kiss him.

 

There’s something dark, deep inside of me, that stirs when his lips hit mine. Something that claws its way up and takes control. Joshua’s lips are soft, they’re so _fucking_ soft. His eyes are closed and he’s so close and _fuck_ , I want him to never stop touching me, ever again.

Then he pulls back, and the expression he has makes me want to vomit. He looks at me in _shame._ Joshua has a horrified, ashamed look on his face.

“Shit,” he says. “I didn’t – I don’t – I mean! I!” And with that, he scrabbles away from the edge of the cliff and gets up.

I’m by his side instantly, stopping his little march. “No. Joshua.”

“Don’t – I mean! I’m!”

I’m kissing him again. It’s just natural. Like it’s meant to be this way. My arm slides around his waist and my hand cradles his perfect little face and it’s _right_ and _good_ and I don’t ever want to stop. He’s warm, even to me, and he’s beautiful. He’s so, so beautiful. He fits in my arms, his lips fit against mine, and his body bends itself to fit against mine oh so perfectly.

 Joshua’s hands are on my shoulders, resting there, and he just looks at me when I release him. There’s a thousand emotions swirling in his head, I can tell. I know. I know _him_ , better than I’ll ever know anybody else.

“…what are we doing?” he whispers.

I shake my head just a tiny bit. “I don’t know,” I whisper back.

To me complete happiness, Joshua just leans in to kiss me again.

 

“…what am I _doing_ ,” he whispers, staring at the horizon turning golden. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”

I’m holding his hand in mine and literally nothing else matters. As long as I can hold him. It’s stupid to think this way, but as long as I can hold Joshua, I’ll be happy. “…does it feel that bad?”

He shakes his head slowly. “I’m just so confused.”

“What about?”

“This, you, me, - what about Jun?”

I shrug. “What about him?”

“He’s still my boyfriend,” Joshua groans.

“Or a demon out on the prowl to suck up your soul but you know, potato tomato…”

He nudges me. “I thought we were friends.”

“Aren’t we?”

“Yeah but…” He sighs and looks down at his hands. “I don’t know anything anymore. I… I want to kiss you.”

“Then kiss me.”

“But what about-”

I turn to Joshua and force him to turn to me, holding his arms. “ _Fuck_ him,” I tell him gently. “Fuck them, fuck the entire world. If you want to kiss me, I want you to kiss me. I… I mean it’s…”

It takes him a moment to fill in for me. “Confusing, huh?”

I nod a little. “That doesn’t mean… I mean… Joshua. Look at you.” I cradle his face in both my hands and look at him, and I feel like I’m breaking on the inside. He’s so beautiful – so ridiculously beautiful, with his large twinkly eyes and soft skin and happy lips. He’s breathtaking, stunning. No wonder I have to compete with three other people for him. “Just look at you.”

“…would you be angry with me if I kissed you, but still dated Jun?”

“I’m upset about you dating Jun regardless, but nothing about that particular scenario annoys me.”

“…really?”

“Joshua. Joshua, Joshua, Joshua,” I whisper, leaning in. “Please. Please let me kiss you.”

He simply reaches up to kiss me warmly.

Joshua’s lips are brilliant – they’re warm and soft and he presses against me so happily I could cry.

I don’t want to move away from this, here and now. I want to hold him forever. I want Joshua in my arms forever. I don’t care about a stupid Ovo I can’t find and never will, I don’t care about Joshua being in a stead relationship, I don’t care about cancer, I don’t care about _anything_. As long as I can hold him, and protect him. As long as I can hold his hand in mine.

It’s stupid, how long I’ve fought this for. How long I’ve fought myself on it. There’s no going back for me, and I don’t want there to be, either.

When Joshua smiles, when he speaks, when he walks, he makes me _happy_. I just want to spend all my time making him feel the same way.

“…I think it’s time to go home,” he whispers.

“Yeah,” I whisper back. “…okay. Don’t let go of my hand.”


	29. A Soul Conundrum

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuckerty Fucker MacFuckerton Of Fucksville in County Fuck-a-doodle-doo, is in no way more FUCKED than I am right now._

I’m not normally the melodramatic sort, but let’s take a quick moment to, say, take stock of what has happened in my life over the last six months.

_One,_ I accidentally save a demon from death and therefore get his ass tethered to me for the rest of my natural life. _Two,_ I wake up on my seventeenth with no Ovo to speak up but big black X’s, dooming me to a life of eternal solitude. _Three_ , lung cancer returns to my body because my life isn’t stressful enough. _Four_ , my uncle tries and make me responsible for running his entire school. _Five_ , I find out my best friend has a huge crush on me. _Six,_ I find out my two closest and dearest friends are protective angels in disguise. _Seven_ , demons come to my school and one of them is an incredible flirt. _Eight_ , I fall for said demon, and we start dating to the horror of literally all my friends. _Nine_ , I have to start _living_ with the two friends who have crushes on me. _Ten_ , I find out the demon I have a Concordat with used to have my name down as his Ovo. _Eleven_ , I fall in love with him. _Twelve,_ I’m also really not over my actual demon boyfriend, who doesn’t really love me. _Thirteen_ , my grades are failing. _Fourteen_ , in less than two days I’m going to be on an operating table. And to round it all up, _Fifteen,_ Wonwoo booked security for the wrong date.

So the point I’m trying to make here is that whether it be in the area of organization, that of social contacts, relationships, grades or medical health, I’m _fucked_.

I’m a stressed-out mess, and I’ve been so stressed-out that I’ve been snappier than Jihoon at five AM on a Saturday morning when he hasn’t had ass for five weeks straight. And that’s pretty snappy.

Seungcheol’s working his thumbs down on my shoulders, trying to get me relaxed, but how do you relax somebody when they’re hours away from prom with no tux, no security, a boyfriend, a person I have very definite feelings for, and a slight fever.

“You’re going to be fine,” Seungcheol croons. “I promise.”

“I’m gonna hurl.”

“Joshua, relax.” Jihoon waltzes in the door, hands filled with tuxedos. “I am here to save the day.”

 

Prom is, apparently, a huge success – every teacher and good-willing student I pass tells me the same thing, that it’s all _marvellous_ and I’ve done _such a great job_. The fairy lights outside are bright and there’s enough drinks to go around for sure, my tuxedo fits properly, the other Prefects are on high Alcohol Alert, and I’m supposed to be relaxing.

But I’ve got about ten hours until I’m supposed to be cut open for surgery and there’s literally _nothing_ that could relax me now.

“Hey,” a voice mumbles warmly, and when I turn, he’s darted away again. It isn’t until he puts a hand on my arm that I know where he is, and he’s pulling me through the throng of dancing bodies into a dark classroom. “Hello, you.”

“Hey,” I smile breathlessly.

Jun puts his arms around me and kisses me. “I’ve missed you, lately.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“Are you busy now?”

“Busy with you,” I smile a little. “You look good in a tux.”

“So do you,” he grins, leaning in for another kiss. He’s still an amazing kisser, and I still get lost in his arms. Slowly his kisses get deeper and deeper until he breaks away slowly, fingers sliding down my torso. “So? Have you thought about… what we talked about?”

My mind only draws a blank, and we kiss again; Jun’s an excellent kisser and always has been, with a spellbinding ability to make me go numb. Within seconds Jun has be propped up on a table, leaning in to kiss me more, dig his tongue further into my mouth, pull a little harder on my hair.

And _fuck_ , kissing is so much fun.

My necktie slides off, and I pull off my tux coat too – it’s too hot tonight to be making out with one’s hot boyfriend in it. It’s not until his fingers start undoing my buttons that I freeze.

_Oops. Fuck._

“Wait.”

Jun groans as he pulls away, staring at me. “What?”

“I, uh.” I can’t look at him, face flushed. “Uh…”

“Joshu _aaaaa_ ,” he whines, kissing me once more. “Please?”

“I, I’m not…”

“Ready?”

“Ready,” I breathe.

Jun kisses me, gripping my skull close, and it’s intoxicating. I can’t move away. I’m just melting away, and it feels wrong, and it feels nice.

“I could make you ready,” he whispers in between kisses, a hand sliding up my thigh.

“ _Jun_ …”

“I’ll be gentle…”

Twenty coaxing minutes later my shirt’s around my wrists and I’m lying down on four adjacent tables with Jun hovering over me, kissing me like there’s no tomorrow. I’m not sure how we got here, but I don’t have the gall to tell him to stop, and I don’t have it in me to ask him to keep going. I’m just… here. Letting it happen.

Jun leans in and kisses me one more time before leaning in to whisper.

“ _Joshua._ ”

“Y-yes?”

“Are you ready now?” His lips nibble on an earlobe, making me twitch. “Can you give yourself to me?”

I’m panting, hard, can’t breathe enough. It’s not a lung problem, though. I think my brain is slightly fried. I just look at him with wide eyes.

“Give yourself to me,” Jun whispers. “Let me have all of you.”

I’m close to saying _yes_ , and I’m not sure why.

“Tell me you give all of yourself to me, Joshua…”

And that’s it, that right there is what makes me freeze. Cools the heat on my skin, changes the adrenaline rush in a completely new direction. “… _what_?”

Jun pauses, but his seductive, low tone doesn’t change. “Tell me you give yourself to me…”

I blink a few times before hefting myself up onto my elbows a little. “What exactly does that mean?” My voice is sharper than I mean for it to be, but maybe that’s for the best.

“…what?” he asks innocently.

“Jun,” I mutter in a warning tone, sitting up more and more. “What does that _mean_?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, baby…”

I slap away the hand he’s reaching out to tuss my hair with. “I’m not… are you… are you trying to get me to give up my _soul_?”

Jun’s eyes seem to steel over for a moment, and my heart sags into my dress shoes. He can’t hide from me anymore. Jun was trying to get my _soul_.

“No,” he says, unsure.

“You were trying to get my soul! Is… is that what all this has been about?!” My voice seems to have gone up a number of octaves, and I’ve gotten really loud, but I don’t really care. “You’ve been fishing out for my soul?!”

Jun doesn’t move – he simply stands by the table with a measured look.

I shake my head slowly, pulling my shirt back onto my shoulders. “I should have listened to Jeonghan in the first place. Unbelievable. I should have listened to Jeonghan.”

“Well, you didn’t.” Jun’s voice is flat and loud and emotionless. It’s a sound I’ve actually never heard from him – completely unattached, unaffected. It’s cold and lifeless and… a little evil.

Then Jun just grabs me – puts one hand around my neck and _squeezes_ , and shit, _shit, SHIT,_ it hurts. And not only does it hurt, but I can’t breathe right.

_So this is how I die,_ I think, struggling against Jun’s talons. _…Jeonghan, I’m sorry._

 

“Joshua. Joshua.”

“Jeonghan,” I whisper, opening my eyes. “Jeonghan, I’m sorry.”

It takes a few more minutes before I’m really _conscious_ – and well enough to understand the situation, where Jeonghan is standing over my body on the floor, curled away from me. Jun is on the other side of the room, lighting up a cigarette, seemingly at ease.

“You’re going to keep your filthy hands off him,” Jeonghan growls. The sound of his voice makes me feel entirely safe, regardless of everything. Safe, and at home, and happy. “You’re never going to touch him again.”

“Whatever,” the smoker answers.

I pull myself up onto my knees and then use Jeonghan’s arm as a prop until I’m standing. “Jeonghan. Jeonghan, Jeonghan.”

Jeonghan puts an arm around my waist, not taking his eyes off Jun. “Are you alright?” he grunts through clenched jaws.

I just nod, but I put both my arms around him. Just like that, it’s all clear now. Jeonghan was right, and I should have listened to him. Wish I’d listened to him. Wish I’d kissed him sooner. Wish I hadn’t fought so hard with him at the start. Wish I’d spent these months falling in love with him, rather than resisting. Wish I’d known I was his Ovo from the beginning. I wish a lot of things. Most of all, I wish I could go back and do it all _right_.

Wish I could tell him everything. Wish everything was different.

Jun smokes quietly in a corner, obviously upset he doesn’t get to ingest my soul today. “Fuck both of you,” he mutters blackly.

Jeonghan’s nostrils flare, and I swear _actual_ smoke comes out of them.

“Hey, pipsqueak.” I blanch, but turn slightly to hear what he has to say; Jun just snarls unhappily at me. “You realize he’s no better than me, right?”

Jeonghan growls. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jun doesn’t take his eyes off me. “ _He_ ,” he accuses, pointing his cigarette at Jeonghan, “and your two little glorious halo buddies, they have a bet on.”

Jeonghan freezes, every muscle in his body tensing.

“To see which one of them can take your fucking _virginity_ first. Graduation is the best-before date, right? Yeah, they were going to see who could fuck you before graduation. Winner takes all. Hah! If Jeonghan won, the angels would sever your connection, and if one of the angels boned your precious ass, they’d send him to purgatory. They’ve all just been after your dick this whole time.” Jun grins happily to himself, blowing out a long trail of smoke. “You really think you’re that special? To have all these people love you?”

I want to yell at him. I want to tell him it’s not true. I want to tell him that Jeonghan is my safe haven. Jeonghan’s the one that keeps me sane, keeps me happy. Jeonghan is my everything. Jeonghan is my happiness. Jeonghan would never hurt me like that, never do something that stupid. I want to say it. But more than that, I want _Jeonghan_ to say it. And Jeonghan is keeping silent.

I crane my neck to slowly look at him. “…Jeonghan?” I whisper quietly. “…aren’t you going to tell him off? For lying to me?”

Jun lets out one laugh, and Jeonghan turns to look at me.

There’s a guilt in his eyes that has me gasping for air, and then suddenly we’re _gone_ – Jeonghan teleports us both to the Prefecture room, and within seconds all the other Prefects are here with us.

I back out of Jeonghan’s embrace slowly. “Jeonghan?” My voice is weak, and a little shuddery. “Jeonghan, why didn’t you tell him off?”

The demon holds both palms up to me and tries to take a step closer, but pauses to speak to the Prefects, not looking away from me. “Jun told Joshua about… what we talked about.”

Both Wonwoo and DK, my closest friends in the whole damn world, pause.

“Aw, _crap_ ,” Jihoon mutters, loosing the bow tie around his neck.

“Don’t,” I whisper, arms and legs shaking. I realize I’ve curled my hands into little fists. “Don’t tell me he was right. Don’t say it.”

“It was a long time ago,” Jeonghan whispers. “We weren’t serious.”

“We gave it up a long time ago,” DK chimed in.

“A really long time ago.”

I’m up against the wall, just staring at all of them. I turn back to Jeonghan, and I can feel my heart crack in my chest.

“You lied,” I whisper.

“We didn’t-”

“You… you’ve all been playing me? All year?”

“Joshua we weren’t-”

“You all _played_ a _game_ with my _feelings_?” I mean for it to sound threatening and angry, but I just sound terrified and hurt. “You were betting on who would _fuck_ me first?”

Everybody in the room just stands there guiltily, and I sink to my knees, gripping my chest. I’m numb, but I’m in _so much pain_ at the same time, the whole situation is unreal. My friends, my _closest friends,_ my dearest people, and _Jeonghan_ … I guess he really is a demon, after all. Not my Ovo, not my soulmate. Just a demon.

“I hate you,” I whisper, moving as muted sobs rack my chest. “I hate all of you.”

“Joshua we-”

“…call me an ambulance.” It’s the last thing I can say before I lose consciousness again, and everything goes blissfully black.


	30. Simple

When I come to, I’m in a small room, on a hospital bed. Jeonghan’s the only person in the room, against the far wall, arms folded, staring at me.

I’m crying before I can even really see him.

I loved Jeonghan. In my own way, without knowing it myself, I was in love with him. I had been, for a really long time. Jeonghan was my safe haven, my confidant, my home, my happiness, my safe place. Jeonghan kept me safe, advised me, held me. Jeonghan took care of me, and I loved him. Even to the last moment, he kept me safe from Jun. He kept me from having my soul sucked out of my body. Even right now, he’s still with me, still trying to keep me safe.

But it’s all a lie, because Jeonghan only ever did any of it to win a bet, so we wouldn’t be tied together anymore. To get rid of our Concordat. So he could _screw me,_ take my virginity, and leave. Just like that. That was his plan all along.

And the worst thing of all is that it changes _nothing._ With Jun, knowing that he was a snake cooled me instantly – all feelings went out the door. But with Jeonghan… I still love him. My heart still aches for him. I still want his fingers to smooth my hair over and I still want him close. I still want that. Even though he’s a liar and a bastard and a snake and I _hate him_ , I love him. I love him so much, and it hurts so much _more_ , but I can’t stop. I can’t stop it. I just want him to hold me again.

“Don’t cry.” His voice is so soft, so pretty. “You’ll mess up your tubes.”

It’s only then that I realize how many tubes are going in and out of me – in my nose, in my veins, everything.

Jeonghan watches me carefully. “They had to bring you in and move your surgery forward. The surgeon’s on his way. Might take twenty minutes, though.”

I stare at him, tears halting on my cheeks.

Jeonghan moves, unfolds his arms; he comes closer and sits on the chair next to my bed. “In about half an hour you’re going to be opened up for surgery to have your tumor removed, Joshua.”

 _That’s okay_ , I think to myself. _It was going to happen in the morning anyway. I’m going to die anyway, so what does it matter?_

“Will you let me explain?”

His face is tight with determination. Determination to not show a single emotion.

“I can’t stop you,” is all I can whisper.

“…yes, that first night, I made a bet with Wonwoo and DK. None of us were really serious about it, and the moment Jun showed up, all bets were off the table. None of us were thinking about it anymore. None of us ever wanted to hurt you, Joshua. Not ever.” Jeonghan’s fingers stroke my cheek gently, and it feels so good, and I _hate_ myself for it. “I never wanted to hurt you, little kitten. That was never my intention. I didn’t want that to happen, ever. I’m sorry. I did a stupid thing a long time ago and forgot about it. I’m sorry, little kitten. I’m so, so sorry.”

Normally, this is the kind of offense I don’t forgive or forget. Treating me like a plaything on a bet like some teen-boppy Disney Movie plot isn’t exactly something I want to forgive. But I look at Jeonghan, I look at his long hair and his soft eyes and sharp jaw and the planes of his face, and I just want to be with him forever.

I nod three times, tiredly closing my eyes. I can’t hold a grudge, not when I’ve only got half an hour left to live. I’m hurt, my heart still hurts, but I don’t have the will, the drive or the energy to yell about it now. “I forgive you.”

Jeonghan’s lips form a thin smile as he stares at me, stroking my cheek softly. “How can somebody like you forgive such a cruel thing like me?”

I shrug, and I just stare at him.

“You’re precious to me, Joshua. I know I’ve never told you that, but you are. You’re important and precious.” Jeonghan’s fingers brush against the hair over my ear. “I don’t know how or why, though. It’s all weird and wrong, but you’re important, and precious.”

I can almost smile at that.

“You’re my little kitten. Is that alright?”

I nod, and smile softly. “I’d like that. Being your little kitten.”

Something shifts in his eyes and he smiles more, stroking my hair a bit more, leaning in further. “My pretty kitty. My little Joshua.”

I smile and close my eyes, enjoying the way his fingers stroke through my hair. I only have precious few moments left with him. I don’t want to ruin it.

“Can I tell you something?” I whisper.

He nods. “You can tell me anything, Joshua.”

“…you know, your Ovo?”

“Yeah?”

“Jisoo’s a girl name, right?”

“Yeah.” Jeonghan stares at me funny, wondering where I’m going with this.

I take a deep breath. “Jisoo is a girl’s name. So when I was seven… I asked my parents to legally change my name to Joshua.”

Jeonghan frowns a moment before his jaw drops. He moves to grip my wrist in a hurry, staring at the awful, black mark on it, pressing his own burnt wrist beside it.

“Your name is Hong Jisoo,” he whispers in realization. “You were my Ovo. How… how long have you known?”

“…about a month. I wanted to tell you, I promise I did. I just… never found the right time.”

Jeonghan just stares at our wrists, together. Then slowly, he turns back to me.

“Are you very angry?” I whisper, pressing my face more towards the pillow. “Please don’t be too angry.”

Jeonghan’s shock melts away until there’s no trace of it – his eyes fill with tears and he barks out a little laugh, followed by a smile. “I’m not angry, little kitten,” he smiles warmly, leaning closer. “I’m not angry at all.” His lips land on my forehead and one of his arms moves onto my back and he just stays there, lips pressed against my skin. “I’m not angry, I’m happy. I’m so, so happy. I knew I was meant to be your Concordat for a reason. And there it is. There’s the reason.”

One of my weak arms rises to hold his arm feebly.

He laughs a little and sits down, watching me with smiling eyes, holding my hand tucked inside his own. “This is so messed up,” he chuckles, sniffing. “So _incredibly_ messed up.”

I grin a little. “We both mucked it up.”

He nods a little, smiling brilliantly. He’s so pretty. “Yeah, we really did, little kitten. We fucked up, big time. But it’s okay now. It’s going to be okay, from now on. We’ll make it work. Both of us. Together.”

I sniffle myself now, nodding a bit. “Yeah. I’ll do my best.”

“Me, too.”

It’s silent for a few minutes and I just close my eyes tiredly. I can focus on my heartbeat, our breathing, the warmth of Jeonghan’s hand. “There’s so much,” I whisper, exhausted. “…so much I wish I could have done differently. I wish had gone differently. So much I would have changed.”

Jeonghan moves to kiss the back of my hand lightly. “…me, too. Well, I guess I would have only changed one thing.”

“Yeah?” I look up. “What’s that?”

He bridles a moment. “I wish I’d been human from the start, with you. It would have all been so much better if I had been human. Don’t you think? I just… I just want it simple. We would have found each other. You would have had an Ovo. Your friends would have approved of us. Jun wouldn’t have been an issue. We wouldn’t have hated each other so much from the start.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I interrupt with a shit-eating grin. “I think you’re an asshole, demon or not. I still would have hated you, a little, at first.”

Jeonghan chuckles, leaning in to kiss my cheek once. “Yeah, okay, maybe.”

“But you’re right. If you were human, it would have been easier. Would you have liked that?”

“Be human again? Sure.” Jeonghan takes a deep breath. “Feel everything the way I’m supposed to, live a human life, do human things… it’d be great. I’d enjoy it. Walk around like any regular Joe. I would do… almost anything to have that back. To be human again. I guess that’s my greatest wish, next to being with you forever. To be human again.”

I hum at the idea.

“Regardless of whether I’m human or demon, though… I’m just glad I had the chance to meet you, little kitten. My Joshua. My Jisoo.”

I groan. “It’s still a girl’s name.”

Jeonghan smiles warmly. “Hush.”

We sit in silence for a short while, just looking at each other. I think part of us both knows that once I go onto that operating table, I’m not going to come back.

Last moments with people are precious. It’s too bad I’m only realizing that now.

“Hey, Joshua?”

“Yeah?” I work to open my eyes and look at him. At how pretty he is. How wonderful he is. “Jeonghan?”

“…thank you.”

I give him a look.

“For… everything. Saving my life. Being a pain. Being… _you_. Being my soulmate. Thank you for being Joshua. I… I’m really happy I got to know you.” He wells up suddenly and presses his eyes closed. “Don’t die,” he begs in a whisper. “Just don’t die, Joshua. Okay? You have to fight and stay alive. The world is a better place with you in it. So just don’t die. Alright?”

I have to crank out a brittle little smile. “I’ll do my best.”

Jeonghan smiles a little before wiping his face clear of tears. “Good. That’s my Joshua.”

A nurse flurries in, suddenly, with a team behind her: the surgeon is scrubbing up for my emergency operation, so it’s time to say goodbye.

I look at Jeonghan in a panic, but when I see his face, all the panic goes away.

It’s okay. My safe haven is here.

I can see the mask they’re preparing to put me under narcosis. I’ve got seconds left as they wheel my bed out of the room and into the hallway. Jeonghan follows the head of the bed silently a moment.

“Jeonghan. One more thing,” I gasp.

“Yes, Joshua?”

“…I love you,” I tell him, for the first time.

Jeonghan smiles gently, as if he’s known all along. He leans in and presses one, sweet, chaste kiss to my lips. “I love you too, Joshua.”

The mask is pressed over my face and I close my eyes, ready to go as they wheel my bed down the hallway towards the surgery.

In a panic, my eyes rush open and I work all my muscles to turn.

Where Jeonghan had once stood in the doorway of my hospital room, there was only a small puff of black smoke.

And then the narcosis takes, and I slip into the darkness as they prepare my body for surgery.


	31. It's All Over

_I’m not supposed to be alive. And this is_ definitely _alive, because I’m pretty damn sure that being dead doesn’t hurt this much. Also, there wouldn’t be this many needles inside of me._

Slowly, incrementally, feeling in every part of my body comes back to me. My fingers twitch and my legs throb and my mouth tingles a little. I’m photosensitive, so it takes me a while to open my eyes.

My mom’s the only one here, and she’s happy to see me awake – upset, _extremely_ upset about the circumstances, but happy regardless. Now that she knows I’m a living, real boy again, after a nurse and doctor come in to brief me, she can go home and get some sleep.

I’m cancer free once again, as far as anyone can tell. The operation was successful. I might never have two lungs that work at 100% functional capacity, but I’m more than able to live a normal life as I am. Cancer-free. Soon to be considered in remission.

But Jeonghan’s not by my side. That makes it _wrong_ , all wrong. If Jeonghan isn’t here… if Jeonghan isn’t with me, then what’s the point? What’s the point of anything anymore, without my personal idiot?

Seungcheol and Jihoon visit with flowers, and I roll my eyes at the two angels peeking into my room from a corner.

“Yeah, yeah, I forgive you for being total jerkasses,” I mumble when they apologize. “It’s whatever. I still love you dummies. You’ll always be my best friends.”

“What’s wrong?” Jihoon asks, sitting up on my bed. He rubs my arm a little. “You look a bit weird. Is it still from the operation?”

I shake my head a little. “…no…”

“What is it?”

I sink into the pillow and close my eyes. “Before I went in… Jeonghan told me he loved me.”

There’s a thick silence.

“He meant it.”

“Oh, God,” Seungcheol mumbles.

“I’m so sorry, Joshua,” Jihoon whispers, hugging me gently.

They all give me their condolences, but that’s not something I’m waiting for. It hurts too much to think of it that way – to think of Jeonghan as _gone_ , as genuinely _poof, gone_. It doesn’t seem real.

“Guys, can I talk to Jihoon privately?”

“Sure.” Wonwoo squeezes my leg and puts the helium _Get Well Soon_ balloon’s weight down on the floor. “We’ll be outside if you want us.”

The door swings shut and Jihoon finishes his coffee, glancing at me. “What’s up, Josh?”

“Jihoon, I need a favor.”

“I’ll do anything for you, you know that,” he smiles generously, petting my hair down. “What can I do for you?”

“…how do I go to hell?”

 

With me explaining that Jeonghan and I are soulmates, each other’s Ovo, and meant to be and all that, Jihoon doesn’t have much of a choice to help me, no matter how stupid he thinks it is. He promised he’d do anything he could to help me, and this is all I want.

He needs a few days to prepare, and although I’ve sworn him to secrecy I end up worrying a little whether he’ll tell Seungcheol.

But I shouldn’t have worried because five days after my operation Jihoon shows up in my recuperation room with a large bag, full of items.

“…it’s not going to be pretty,” he warns me. “It’ll hurt a lot and it won’t be easy.”

“That’s alright,” I assure him.

Jihoon just shakes his head, but as I already pointed out, it’s nothing less than he would do for his soulmate. Of course, I haven’t exactly given him any details, but by the time he figures it out, it’s going to be too late for him to stop me anyway.

Jihoon works magic on two large, octagon-shaped silver coins in a bowl before pressing some kind of fluid – possibly a mixture of oils – on my forehead, using a piece of charcoal to draw a symbol on one of my palms, and putting a green pendant around my neck.

Eventually he exhales slowly, and glances at me. “Are you ready?”

“I’m ready,” I tell him.

Jihoon takes a small, blunt silver needle in his hand and gives me a quick hug. “Hurry back at the first sign of trouble. All you have to do is put the pendant in your mouth.”

“I got it. Jihoon?”

“Yeah?” He takes a good look at where my heart lies in my chest before looking up.

“Take care of everybody while I’m gone.”

He grins. “I promise. You won’t be gone more than a day, anyway.”

“See you. Love ya.”

And Jihoon strikes the pin into my heart.

 

According to Jihoon, I can stay in this ghost-state as long as I like. Floating at the ceiling of my hospital room, watching as doctors and nurses try to figure out why my physical body has lapsed into a coma after I was doing oh-so well.

But I don’t want to stay here forever. I’ve got something I have to do. I wisp down to grab the two silver coins from the bowl they were in – the ones Jihoon had sent to the realm of the occult before he sent me. He’s long gone, together with all his items and any proof he’d ever been there. Which is just as well.

I grip the green pendant and concentrate, as per Jihoon’s instructions. When I open my eyes again, it’s like a different world.

It’s mostly dark. I can’t see much of anything. The rock I’m standing on is a sandy-red color. In front of me is a river of blackness. On the river, there’s a boat.

I head for it slowly, warily.

The Ferryman has no face, just like Jihoon told me he wouldn’t – he’s just a black cloak and hood of blackness. Black hands hold the oars of the boat, but that’s it.

I hold my hand out to show him the coins I’ve brought before I step into the rowboat. Doing everything _exactly_ as Jihoon told me to. I sit across from the Ferryman and put the two coins between us.

“…I want to speak to The Devil Himself,” I tell him softly.

He doesn’t answer. He just slowly begins to row.

 

Plenty of demons attack me as the Ferryman rows over black waters, just as Jihoon told me they would. And just as Jihoon told me, the green pendant keeps all of them away – far away. None of them can touch me. I’m protected.

The river Styx winds all kinds of ways, and there’s many gruesome sights we row past, but I keep my eyes on the inside of the rowboat very steadily. I don’t need to see anything gruesome. I just need to achieve my goal.

Jihoon couldn’t tell me what it would be like to meet The Devil Himself, but it’s somewhere along the lines of awkward grandeur. In the middle of all the gruesome parts of hell there’s an island of the same reddish rock I’d been standing on before. On the island there’s a huge throne – the kind that puts the word itself to shame – and in the throne sits a large, red creature, painted with black lines and glaring with neon green eyes.

The Devil Himself.

He peers down at me in some kind of curiosity, and I look up just as boldly. “My name is Joshua,” I say, breathing slowly, “and I’ve come here to make a deal with The Devil Himself.”

 

“You sent a demon called Yoon Jeonghan to Purgatory for falling in love with a human being,” I state. “I want him back. On earth. As a human being. Untouched by purgatory or demons. I want him to live a long, healthy human life, no catches, no trick questions, no funny wordings. Simple.”

The Devil Himself looks at me curiously. “Why?”

I didn’t expect the question, so I end up being honest with him. “I love him. He wants to be human again. It’s very…”

“Simple?”

I nod.

The Devil Himself thinks about it. “You want me to pull my own demon from Purgatory.”

“Yes.”

“Turn him human.”

“Yes.”

“Erase the pain from Purgatory and being a demon for a few centuries from his mind, soul and body?”

“Yes.”

“And allow him to roam the earth for the rest of his natural human life?”

“Yes.”

He looks at me. “That’s a heady request.”

“I know,” I tell him honestly.

The Devil Himself leans in. “I don’t think you understand. You have to give me something of equal worth if that’s what you want. I realize you used a witch to get you this far, but I don’t think witchcraft can conjure any item that’s worth all of that. What are you going to use to bargain with? What could you possibly offer me in return for something of that magnitude?”

I have to curl my hands into fists to keep myself strong. This is why I’ve come here, to do this. I’ve known this since the beginning.

I only have one thing that I could offer The Devil Himself.

 

Jeonghan’s nerves are frazzled, he’s confused and confounded, but he falls into my arms nonetheless. “Joshua,” he whispers. “Joshua?!”

“Hello, handsome,” I smile, holding him tightly.

“What are you _doing_?!” Jeonghan whispers in agony.

I have to keep it together: I can’t cry now. Jeonghan needs me. “It’s okay. I’m taking care of you, just like you’ve been taking care of me,” I tell him gently, letting my fingers run through his hair. “You have to listen to me very carefully, Jeonghan.”

He’s entirely silent.

“I love you. I have always and _will_ always love you. Nothing can or will ever change that. And I want you to be happy. I want you to work hard and be happy. Can you do that? Can you do that for me, Jeonghan?”

He moves to look me in the eye, confused, but happy. “Of course I can. I can do anything for you, little kitten.”

“I love you.”

“You, too.”

I get one, last kiss before he’s _gone_ , snapped away, out of my reach.

 

“How can I be sure you’ll keep your promise?” I demand.

“If I don’t keep my promise, I won’t be able to cash in my reward,” The Devil Himself tells me. I’ve already heard that from Jihoon, but I’m just making sure. “You understand all that will happen?”

“Yes.”

“There’s no heaven or hell for you. You’ll just be gone. You’ll just die and be gone.”

“I understand.”

The Devil Himself nods.

I take the green pendant off, hold it in one hand, out in front of me. I drop it to the ground, and allow The Devil Himself to collect his debt.

 

In Seoul General Hospital, Joshua’s body flatlines.

A few miles away, Jeonghan appears in a human body in an alleyway.

And it’s all over.


	32. Epilogue

I understand why they wanted me to see this. The video they made on Joshua’s seventeenth birthday. It’s absolutely precious to me, as I’m sure it’s precious to all of them. The last few hours before all of this misery happened.

On the screen, they’ve set up a poker table. They’re not betting, they’re just playing for the fun of playing. Joshua wins the last hand of the night, by two pairs, since everybody else was bluffing. I have to pause the video.

“I miss him.”

“Us, too,” DK says.

“I promised him I’d try to be happy, but…”

“You have to try, if you promised,” Wonwoo tells me. Neither of them sit here with halos. They handed their wings in the day Joshua died, and turned around to live mortal human lives. I don’t blame them. Not one bit.

“We just wanted you to have this,” Jihoon chimes in. “None of us will ever get to see him again, but we all know what you meant to him. And we all know he would have wanted us to be your friends. So as long as you’re still human, and as long as you love him, we’ll be here, but you have to keep trying.”

I can’t help the tears. They roll so freely at the thought of what he did for me. They rolled when I said goodbye to the body in the casket, they rolled when I sang _Can I Lay By Your Side_ by his grave, and they roll every time I think of his voice, his warmth, his smile.

What Joshua did for me was unimaginable. I didn’t think I’d ever be so loved, ever.

I just nod. “He deserves that. That I try. He deserves that much.”

Everybody in the room nods, too. We all agree.

I play the video again. The camera zooms in on the cards Joshua shows to the group. Two black aces and two black eights.

“…Dead Man’s Hand,” I whisper with an ironic smile. “Joshua played a Dead Man’s Hand.”

Everybody in the room pauses to ponder that.

“Hours before we met, Joshua played two black aces and two black eights. It’s the sign of somebody who is going to die in a year. A Dead Man’s Hand.”

There’s a minute of silence in the room as the video ends.

_I miss you, Joshua. I’m sorry, I’ll try harder. I love you, too._

 

 

**The End.**


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